\ 


BV  652  . S6  1923 
Smith,  Roy  Lemon,  1887- 
•  Capturing  crowds 


OTHER  BOOKS  BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

“The  Young  Christian  and  His  Community” 
“Moving  Pictures  in  the  Church” 


ROY  L.  SMITH 


Introduction  by 

BISHOP  CHARLES  BAYARD  MITCHELL 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 

NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1923,  by 
ROY  L.  SMITH 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


First  Edition  printed  April,  1923 
Reprinted  June,  1924 


WITH 


GENUINE  APPRECIATION 
TO 

Dr.  Christian  F.  Reisner 

THE  MAN  WHO  FIRST  TAUGHT  ME  TO  HOPE 


THAT  IT  COULD  BE  DONE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/capturingcrowdsOOsmit 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

Introduction .  11 

PART  ONE 

It  Can  Be  Done .  15 

I.  Telling  Ourselves  the  Truth .  23 

II.  Our  Heaviest  Bat .  33 

III.  Improving  the  Can .  41 

IV.  Getting  Into  Troy .  51 

V.  Making  a  Congregation  out  of  a 

Crowd .  59 

VI.  Doing  as  the  Romans  Do .  68 

VII.  Old  Wine  in  New  Bottles .  75 

PART  TWO 

VIII.  Praise  Ye  the  Father .  89 

IX.  Let  There  Be  Light .  104 

X.  The  Charm  of  Color .  120 

XI.  Through  the  Eye  Gate .  133 

XII.  Atmosphere .  145 

XIII.  Group  Services .  164 

XIV.  Seasonal  Services .  181 

XV.  The  New  Church  Bell .  194 

Appendix .  211 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Bishop  Charles  Bayard  Mitchell  Preach¬ 
ing  From  a  Boat .  25 

An  Easter  Poster .  31 

A  Twenty-four  Sheet  Poster  Board .  35 

Poster  Announcing  Election  Returns.  ...  43 

Armistice-Day  Decorations .  47 

Featuring  the  Picture  of  the  Entrance..  52 

Minnesota  Ministers’  Quartet  Illustrated 

Hymn .  57 

People  Being  Turned  Away  From  Church  62 
Some  Sample  Handbills .  66 

Using  Children  in  Advertising — Sample 

Handbill .  71 

An  Easter  Folder  Illustrating  “Reason 

Why”  Copy . 78-79 

A  Lenten-Service  Design .  115 

Florida  Night  Announcement .  125 

Invitation  to  Nurses .  131 

Announcement  of  Dramatic  Service .  139 

Handbill  Announcing  Souvenir .  149 

Inside  Pages  of  Folder  Announcing  Art 
Nights .  156-157 

Millet’s  “The  Angelus”  Posed .  162 

Invitation  Prepared  by  Street  Railway 

Employees .  169 

“The  Longest  Sermon  Ever  Preached  in 
Minneapolis”  ...- .  171 

Invitation  Card  for  School-teachers.  ...  175 
Small  Trade  Mark  Design  for  Church.  .  197 

Using  “  Good-Will  Advertising  ”  With 

Feature  Advertising .  198 

Using  an  Appeal  to  Homesickness .  201 


INTRODUCTION 


To  draw  a  crowd  is  easy.  To  attract  and 
hold  a  congregation  is  a  more  difficult  accom¬ 
plishment,  Any  crank  may  get  a  crowd  to 
hear  him  once,  but  to  secure  a  continuous  hear¬ 
ing  on  the  part  of  an  intelligent  congregation 
is  the  sane  and  solemn  aim  of  every  conse¬ 
crated  minister  who  lives  only  for  the  purpose 
of  helping  and  saving  his  fellow  men.  To  at¬ 
tain  that  end  is  a  most  difficult  undertaking 
in  these  days.  Every  true  preacher  strives  to 
get  a  hearing  for  his  message.  A  crowd  is  no 
evidence  of  success,  but  empty  pews  may  be 
regarded  as  good  proof  of  failure  in  any  com¬ 
munity  where  people  live.  The  minister’s  ob¬ 
jective  is  service  to  his  community,  and  he  val¬ 
ues  a  large  hearing  only  as  a  means  to  that  end. 
IIow  to  get  a  large  audience  in  order  to  build 
a.  permanent  church  congregation  is  the  anx¬ 
iety  and  aim  of  every  true  minister  of  Christ, 
This  book  will  help  him.  It  contains  sug¬ 
gestions  that  have  been  successful  in  their 
pragmatic  results.  The  author  is  no  theorist, 
nor  does  he  seek  to  be  a  mere  “seven-days’ 
wonder”  in  any  place  where  he  may  be  re¬ 
garded  as  a  “passing  show.”  He  is  tremen¬ 
dously  anxious  to  be  a  soul-winner.  He  seeks 
a  hearing  for  his  Lord  and  not  for  himself. 


11 


12 


INTRODUCTION 


Every  method  lie  employs  has  the  definite 
objective  of  winning  converts  to  his  Saviour 
and  permanent  working  members  for  his 
church.  His  program  may  change,  but  never 
his  objective.  He  never  seeks  to  create  a  mere 
sensation,  but  he  does  create  a  sensation  in 
the  interest  of  human  welfare  and  personal 
salvation.  The  preacher  who  gives  these  wise 
suggestions  to  the  ministry  has  proved  him¬ 
self  a  genuine  preacher,  teacher,  and  evan¬ 
gelist.  He  builds  constructively  and  perma¬ 
nently,  and  is  never  in  haste  to  pass  on  to 
pastures  new.  His  pastorates  are  long  and  in¬ 
creasingly  fruitful. 

I  heartily  commend  this  volume  to  all  pas¬ 
tors  and  lay-workers  in  the  church.  They  will 
find  it  exceedingly  suggestive  and  stimulating. 
It  will  inspire  to  originality  and  initiative.  It 
should  not  produce  a  group  of  mere  imitators. 
It  will  show  how  consecrated  men  may  dare  to 
trust  their  own  judgment  and  be  guided  by  a 
godly  disregard  for  stereotyped  conventionali¬ 
ties,  in  order  to  win  the  acceptance  of  their 
Lord  and  the  following  of  his  leadership. 

I  gladly  give  this  willing  testimony  to 
the  value  of  this  volume,  with  the  hope  that 
every  pastor  may  read  it,  and  with  the  prayer 
that  it  may  prove  a  blessing  to  multitudes. 

Charles  Bayard  Mitchell. 


PART  ONE 


IT  CAN  BE  DONE 


The  decline  of  the  Sunday-evening  service 
is  the  heart-breaking  problem  of  earnest  pas¬ 
tors  all  over  the  land.  The  few  preachers  who 
succeed  in  capturing  crowds  are  being  deluged 
with  letters  from  other  ministers,  equally  dili¬ 
gent  and  consecrated,  who  want  to  know  the 
“secret.” 

This  book  is  the  story  of  a  great  Sunday¬ 
evening  audience  which  has  been  built  up  in 
an  average  church  in  the  face  of  average  prob¬ 
lems.  Some  reference  is  made  to  successful 
methods  used  by  other  churches,  but  only  to 
show  that  the  case  under  study  does  not  pre¬ 
sent  peculiar  advantages.  If  there  is  any 
“secret”  besides  hard  work,  the  pastor  has 
tried  to  tell  it  in  these  pages.  No  reference  is 
made  to  other  vital  elements  in  the  church’s 
work  such  as  an  extensive  community  pro¬ 
gram,  internal  organization,  the  teaching  min¬ 
istry  of  the  pulpit,  the  religious  educational 
program,  or  the  complete  and  scientific  office 
system.  These  features  are  necessary  in  a 
working  church,  but  the  immediate  concern 
of  this  discussion  is  the  organization  of  a  suc¬ 
cessful  Sunday-evening  service, 

15 


16 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


The  material  is  presented  under  two  heads 
— principles  and  illustrations.  Any  preacher 
who  uses  the  plans  without  mastering  the  prin¬ 
ciples  upon  which  they  are  built  will  soon  be 
in  need  of  another  book,  but  the  man  who 
understands  the  principles  and  applies  them 
according  to  his  own  temperament  and  prob¬ 
lem  will  probably  be  able  to  write  a  better  one. 
Part  One  may  seem  academic  and  abstract, 
but  these  chapters  constitute  the  foundation 
for  the  plans  described  in  Part  Two.  The 
“Sunday-evening  problem”  is  due  to  a  new  so¬ 
cial  mind  which  has  developed  since  the  ad¬ 
vent  of  the  automobile,  the  moving  picture, 
Sunday  newspapers,  and  multiple  dwellings. 
No  preaching  can  hope  to  succeed  which  does 
not  grow  out  of  an  understanding  of  this  new 
psychology. 

This  volume  lays  no  claim  to  infallibility, 
but  the  author  has  marked  confidence  in  the 
conclusions  set  forth.  The  principles  have 
been  tested  on  a  country  circuit,  in  a  Western 
county-seat  town,  an  institutional  church  in 
a  great  city,  a  university  church,  a  semi-down- 
town  church  with  a  family  constituency  and 
a  strictly  downtown  church  in  a  vast  room¬ 
ing-house  district.  They  bear  the  best  pos¬ 
sible  indorsement :  they  have  worked  and  they 
are  working. 


IT  CAN  BE  DONE 


17 


The  plot  of  this  story  is  laid  in  the  field  of 
Simpson  Methodist  Church,  Minneapolis, 
which  lias  stood  at  the  corner  of  Twenty- 
eighth  Street  and  First  Avenue,  South,  for 
forty  years.  The  pastors  have  been  scholarly 
and  aggressive  men  who  have  built  up  a  mag¬ 
nificent  loyalty  and  a  superb  esprit  de  corps 
within  the  church.  Simpson  has  long  stood 
as  one  of  the  substantial  organizations  in  the 
religious  life  of  the  city.  No  peculiar  prob¬ 
lems  or  advantages  attach  to  the  work.  Aside 
from  a  convenient  location,  relative  to  street¬ 
car  service,  the  church  is  situated  about  as  any 
other  church  in  the  city. 

Because  of  an  approaching  apartment  house 
district  and  a  rapidly  developing  business  sec¬ 
tion  nearby,  the  church  was  obliged  to  pre¬ 
pare  itself  for  the  time  when  it  would  be  a 
downtown  church  with  all  the  attendant  prob¬ 
lems  of  such  a  parish.  The  year  before  launch¬ 
ing  its  popular  program  Simpson  enjoyed  a 
happy  and  profitable  pastorate  with  a  regular 
attendance  as  good  as  that  of  any  church  of 
equal  membership  in  the  city.  Six  hundred 
names  appeared  on  the  membership  roll  with 
a  staff  consisting  of  a  pastor,  part-time  secre¬ 
tary,  organist,  and  caretaker.  After  a  little 
more  than  three  years  of  insistent  appeal  to 
the  masses  according  to  the  methods  set  forth 


18 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


in  this  volume,  the  membership  stands  over 
thirteen  hundred,  with  a  church  school  enroll¬ 
ing  one  thousand,  and  a  staff  of  six  full¬ 
time  and  four  part-time  workers.  The  annual 
budget  has  increased  from  $7,500  to  $22,000 
and  the  sanctuary  has  been  unable  to  accom¬ 
modate  the  audiences  for  over  two  years. 

The  prediction  was  freely  made,  at  first,  that 
the  public  would  soon  tire  of  Sensational 
methods”  and  desert  the  preacher  as  soon  as 
curiosity  was  satisfied.  The  failure  of  this 
prediction  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  in  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  year  crowds  are  larger 
than  ever,  more  people  are  joining  the  church, 
collections  are  better,  the  church  school  is  at 
the  height  of  its  prosperity,  and  evangelistic 
efforts  were  never  more  successful. 

The  services  are  always  evangelistic.  Sel¬ 
dom  does  an  evening  pass  when  people  are  not 
urged  to  come  forward  to  the  altar  and  register 
a  Christian  decision  or  take  fellowship  with 
the  church.  No  feature  is  ever  allowed  to 
trespass  upon  the  sermon,  which  is  never  less 
than  thirty  minutes  in  length.  Nearly  nine 
hundred  people  have  taken  the  hand  of  the 
pastor  in  seeking  fellowship,  and  hundreds  of 
testimonies  and  prayers  have  been  voluntarily 
offered  by  the  people  as  part  of  the  regular 
worship.  No  visiting  guests  or  special 


IT  CAN  BE  DONE 


19 


speakers  are  allowed  to  interfere  Avitli  the  invi¬ 
tation  to  penitents.  Those  who  attend  the 
services  expect  the  appeal  as  certainly  as  the 
sermon. 

The  morning  service  is  as  conventional  and 
formal  as  one  would  ordinarily  find  in  any 
Methodist  church  where  the  pulpit  is  devoted 
to  a  serious  teaching  ministry.  While  the  eve¬ 
ning  audiences  have  increased  more  than  six 
hundred  per  cent,  the  morning  audiences 
(always  good)  have  nearly  trebled,  hundreds 
of  people  getting  their  first  start  through  the 
evening  services  and  gradually  acquiring  the 
“morning  habit.”  The  sanctuary  seats  six 
hundred  and  fifty  people  with  a  Sunday-school 
annex  and  galleries  accommodating  five  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  more,  yet  this  space  is  crowded, 
and  hundreds  are  frequently  turned  away  un¬ 
able  to  get  seats.  As  many  as  a  hundred  and 
fifty  have  stood  through  an  entire  service  be¬ 
cause  even  chairs  were  not  available.  An  exact 
count  is  made  of  every  audience,  and  the  record 
carefully  kept  in  the  office  files  shows  that  a 
steady  gain  has  been  made  each  month  over 
the  corresponding  months  of  the  previous 
years.  In  other  words,  the  figures  show  con¬ 
clusively  that  the  growth  is  steady  and  sub¬ 
stantial  and  the  gains  permanent.  The  best 
evidence,  perhaps,  is  the  large  number  of  new 


20 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


members  found  working  in  the  Sunday  school, 
with  the  women’s  societies,  on  the  official 
board,  and  wherever  people  accept  official  re¬ 
sponsibility. 

The  author  holds  no  copyright  on  any  plan 
suggested,  but  he  cannot  forbear  a  word  of 
earnest  warning.  No  plan  will  ever  succeed 
which  is  not  securely  rooted  in  hard  work.  No 
method  works  itself,  but  succeeds  only  when 
thoroughly  infused  with  the  spirit  of  the 
preacher.  None  of  us  can  succeed  by  imitating 
another  or  by  using  his  methods.  Differences 
in  personality  make  a  method  effective  in  the 
hands  of  one  man  and  grotesque  in  the  hands 
of  another.  The  plans  described  herewith 
have  served  their  purpose  if  they  reveal,  in 
any  way,  the  possibilities  of  new  appeals 
which  men  may  appropriate  and  direct  ac¬ 
cording  to  their  own  temperament. 

With  the  thought  of  making  this  discussion 
of  the  largest  possible  help  to  ministers  in  all 
types  of  churches,  the  manuscript  was  sub¬ 
mitted  to  a  group  of  representative  pastors 
and  church  leaders  in  city  and  country.  Espe¬ 
cial  thanks  are  due  to  the  Rev.  William  C. 
Sainsbury,  of  Trinity  Church,  Saint  Paul ;  Dr. 
J.  W.  Holland,  of  First  Church,  Saint  Paul ; 
the  Rev.  Roi  B.  Tibbetts,  of  Marshall,  Min¬ 
nesota;  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Acknian,  of  Monona, 


IT  CAN  BE  DONE 


21 


Iowa;  the  Rev.  H.  J.  Burgstahler,  of  First 
Church,  Rochester,  New  York;  Dr.  Charles  S. 
Van  Dettum,  of  Bushnell,  Illinois;  Dr.  Wil¬ 
liam  S.  Mitchell,  of  Calvary  Church,  Philadel¬ 
phia;  Dr.  C.  N.  Pace,  of  First  Church,  Duluth, 
Minnesota,  and  Dr.  R.  B.  Kester,  district 
superintendent  of  the  Minneapolis  District — 
all  Methodist  pastors;  also  to  Dr.  E.  Robb 
Zaring,  editor  of  the  Northwestern  Christian 
Advocate,  Chicago;  Dr.  E.  A.  Roadman,  of 
Upper  Iowa  University;  Professor  A.  Z.  Mann, 
of  Hamline  University;  and  Mr.  Ralph  E. 
Diffendorfer,  of  the  Methodist  Centenary,  for 
reading  the  manuscript  and  offering  helpful 
and  suggestive  criticism  without  which  the 
book  would  never  have  been  presented.  Grate¬ 
ful  appreciation  is  also  expressed  to  the  loyal 
people  of  churches  wherein  these  ideas  have 
been  tried  out,  for  their  whole-hearted  co¬ 
operation  and  prayerful  support. 


CHAPTER  I 


TELLING  OURSELVES  THE  TRUTH 

The  worst  fooled  man  in  all  the  world  is  the 
man  who  fools  himself.  It  is  so  hard  to  dis¬ 
illusion  him.  He  has  such  confidence  in  the 
man  who  fooled  him ! 

The  most  hopeless  church  is  the  one  which 
lias  admitted,  “It  can't  be  done.1’  It  is  so  easy, 
after  that,  to  find  reasons  why  no  effort  should 
be  made. 

Ours  is  not  a  churchgoing  generation.  The 
“good  old  days”  when  men  traveled  many 
miles  to  sit  through  a  service  several  hours  in 
length  are  past.  A  score  of  reasons  might  be 
offered  to  explain  the  change  in  conditions, 
but  they  would  not  alter  the  fact.  It  will  help 
greatly  in  facing  our  problem  candidly,  to 
admit  that  multitudes  are  absolutely  un¬ 
touched  by  the  ministry  of  the  Christian 
Church.  By  the  methods  now  pursued  can  we 
ever  hope  to  reach  them? 

This  problem  is  not  peculiar  to  any  section 
of  the  country.  One  of  the  major  cities  of 
America  showed  less  than  one  third  of  the 


23 


24 


CArTURING  CROWDS 


actual  church  membership  in  either  the  morn¬ 
ing  or  evening  service  during  a  large  part  of 
one  winter.  A  prosperous  Iowa  county  sent 
less  than  ten  per  cent  of  the  total  population  to 
divine  worship  through  a  period  of  eight  weeks. 
The  problem  of  the  evening  service  is  especially 
acute.  Many  churches  with  good  morning 
audiences  have  discontinued  evening  services 
completely  through  lack  of  attendance.  Others, 
in  a  desperate  effort  to  attract  a  crowd,  have 
used  moving  pictures,  lectures,  social  func¬ 
tions,  and  a  long  list  of  other  expedients. 
Many  churches  hold  on,  to  save  their  pride, 
while  a  diminishing  crowd  discourages  the 
minister  and  disheartens  the  church. 

The  man  on  the  outside  has  a  variety  of 
reasons  to  offer.  Sometimes  he  says  the  pul¬ 
pit  is  “manacled  with  gold”  and  urges  a  so¬ 
cial  gospel  and  vigorous  attacks  on  the  social 
system ;  but  thousands  of  ministers  are 
preaching  the  social  gospel  to  empty  pews. 
Sometimes  the  preacher  is  blamed  as  being 
effeminate,  emotional,  or  other-worldly.  But 
the  typical  “man's  man”  does  not  attract  su¬ 
perior  numbers.  Men  did  not  object  to  the 
extreme  emotionalism  employed  in  selling  war 
bonds,  and  the  popular  interest  in  spiritualism 
indicates  a  widespread  concern  in  the  life  of 
the  other  world.  There  must  be  other  reasons. 


c3  T3 
35 


Bishop  Charles  Bayard  Mitchell  preaching  “beside  the  sea”  in  a  Sunday  afternoon  service  during 
session  of  the  Northern  Minnesota  Conference.  It  was  estimated  that  five  thousand  people  attend 
this  service  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Calhoun,  Minneapolis.  (See  page  154.) 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


The  man  inside,  on  the  other  hand,  com¬ 
forts  himself  with  the  fact  that  libraries,  art 
galleries,  lecture  halls,  and  high-grade  con¬ 
certs  are  poorly  patronized  also.  To  say  that 
the  church  is  in  good,  but  deserted,  company  is 
only  applying  an  anaesthetic  to  make  a  painful 
situation  a  bit  more  bearable. 

Let  us  admit  the  first  truth :  To  fill  the 
empty  pew  is  the  responsibility  of  the  church 
itself.  Jesus  never  commanded  men  to  go  to 
church.  He  commanded  the  church  to  go  out 
into  the  highways  and  byways  and  find  an 
audience.  To  stop  expecting  a  good  audience 
is  to  stop  working  for  it.  To  stop  working  for 
a  good  hearing  is  to  stop  having  it. 

Occasionally  we  find  a  preacher  who  seems 
to  think  that  a  small  audience  is  a  tribute  to 
his  scholarship.  He  construes  empty  pews  as 
a  compliment  to  his  intellectual  strength. 
But  one  does  not  need  to  be  dull  to  be  pro¬ 
found.  Abraham  Lincoln  discussed  the  great¬ 
est  themes  of  human  knowledge  in  terms  a 
child  could  understand.  Jesus  preached  the 
whole  message  of  the  world’s  redemption  in 
words  of  one  and  two  syllables.  Crowds  heard 
them  both. 

Let  us  admit  another  truth :  It  is  a  matter 
of  interest.  There  seems  to  be  a  comparatively 
slight  “hunger”  for  the  gospel  among  the 


TELLING  OURSELVES  THE  TRUTH  27 


masses — at  least  for  what  they  think  the  gos¬ 
pel  is.  Their  interest  is  in  entertainment, 
bread  and  butter,  moving  pictures,  golf  and 
amusement.  These  things  have  a  following  be¬ 
cause  they  are  interesting.  Perhaps  we  have 
never  presented  the  gospel  appeal  and  the 
church  services  as  subjects  of  everyday  con¬ 
cern.  If  the  church  is  ever  to  capture  crowds, 
it  must  make  its  services  appear  interesting. 

One  more  fact  must  be  admitted :  people 
who  do  not  go  to  church  go  somewhere.  Walk 
down  the  street  of  an  American  city  on  Sun¬ 
day  evening  and  notice  the  crowd  of  loiterers 
wandering  aimlessly  from  one  show  window  to 
another,  from  one  street  corner  to  another. 
See  the  hosts  of  young  people  in  the  parks, 
around  ice-cream  parlors,  or  flying  along  coun¬ 
try  roads  in  high-powered  automobiles.  This 
great  crowd  is  looking  for  a  man  with  some¬ 
thing  interesting  to  say  who  can  say  it  in 
language  they  can  understand.  What  an 
opportunity  for  the  church ! 

A  variety  of  expedients  have  been  tried  in 
the  effort  to  stimulate  church  attendance.  A 
few  years  ago  Mr.  A.  G.  Fegert,  a  Chicago 
newspaper  man,  organized  the  first  “Go-To- 
Churcli  Campaign.”  For  one  Sunday  the 
churches  were  filled  to  overflowing.  In  1920 
the  Minneapolis  Ministers’  Federation  applied 


28 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


the  idea  to  a  month’s  campaign,  using  hun¬ 
dreds  of  thousands  of  pieces  of  advertising 
and  extensive  space  in  the  newspapers.  For 
one  month  the  churches  were  crowded,  but  a 
similar  campaign  the  next  year  fell  far  short 
of  the  original  success.  It  takes  more  than 
advertising  to  guarantee  a  permanent  solu¬ 
tion. 

Most  of  our  appeals  have  been  made  to  a 
conscious  religious  life,  but  in  thousands  of 
cases  no  such  consciousness  exists.  A  genera¬ 
tion  has  grown  up  in  America  entirely  sepa¬ 
rated  from  the  church  and  unfamiliar  with  its 
language.  Multitudes  of  young  people,  in  the 
cities,  will  admit  that  they  have  not  been  in¬ 
side  a  church  since  the  days  of  early  childhood. 
Two  young  women  wandered  by  accident  into 
a  Chicago  church,  and  after  being  shown 
about  confessed  that  it  was  the  first  time  they 
had  ever  been  inside  any  church  building. 
Some  appeal  must  be  made  to  established 
interests  in  the  lives  of  such  people  until  reli¬ 
gious  impulses  can  be  brought  to  conscious¬ 
ness. 

Thousands  of  American  families  have  al¬ 
most  no  time  to  themselves  except  Sunday  eve¬ 
ning,  but  hundreds  of  thousands  will  get  into 
church  on  Sunday  evening  or  not  at  all.  Hard 
work  inclines  them  to  late  rising  on  Sunday 


TELLING  OURSELVES  THE  TRUTH  29 


morning.  The  churchgoing  habit  was  aban¬ 
doned  long  ago,  and  now  they  feel  them¬ 
selves  total  strangers  in  a  religious  service. 
The  order  of  service  which  makes  a  powerful 
appeal  to  the  regular  attendant  by  its  stateli¬ 
ness  and  dignity  finds  the  stranger  ill  at  ease 
lest  he  shall  make  some  “break.”  These  peo¬ 
ple  are  accustomed  to  the  street,  the  shop,  and 
the  playhouse,  and  will  avoid  a  church  service 
if  they  are  compelled  to  go  alone.  No  church 
which  does  not  recognize  this  fact  will  ever  get 
large  numbers  of  such  people. 

Modern  industry  has  been  reduced  to  me¬ 
chanical  routine  with  all  play  taken  out  of 
the  day’s  work.  There  is  no  imagination  left 
in  the  toil  of  thousands  of  machine  tenders, 
Hucksters,  filing  clerks,  telephone  operators, 
etc.  During  their  “off  hours”  they  are  looking 
for  adventure  and  go  where  it  is  promised. 
“The  average  girl  in  my  employ  lives  for  the 
sake  of  the  hours  between  seven- thirty  and 
eleven  o’clock  at  night,”  said  an  employer  re¬ 
cently.  Knowing  the  nerve-racking  nature  of 
the  employment,  the  first  thought  was,  “Well, 
who  wouldn’t?”  When  such  people  go  out  for 
an  evening  they  are  looking  for  something  that 
will  supply  the  thrill  which  their  day’s  work 
has  lacked.  If  the  church  is  to  capture  them 
at  all,  it  must  compete  with  those  institutions 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


30 

which  offer  an  appeal  to  the  spirit  of  adven¬ 
ture. 

It  is  a  great  day  for  a  church  when  it 
locates  its  competition.  A  new  pastor  was  dis¬ 
cussing  the  problems  of  his  parish  with  his 
“leading  layman”  when  that  good  brother  said, 
“Your  keenest  competition  in  this  town  is  the 

-  church.”  The  remark  was  in  perfect 

harmony  with  the  thinking  of  the  community, 
but  three  weeks  on  the  field  revealed  the  fact 
that  the  real  competition  lay  in  the  corner 
barber  shop  and  the  Sunday  morning  post 
office.  These  places  kept  men  away  from  any 
church.  There  are  more  people  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood  of  the  average  church,  city  or  rural, 
than  there  were  at  the  time  of  its  erection, 
but  the  simplest  statement  of  the  fact  is  the 
church  is  not  getting  the  people.  Let  us  stop 
blaming  the  public  and  examine  our  methods 
of  attack. 

General  Braddock  had  the  pick  of  the  Eng¬ 
lish  army,  was  generously  provisioned  and 
thoroughly  schooled  in  European  warfare. 
IT  is  defeat  was  due  to  the  fact  that  his  savage 
enemies  made  war  according  to  a  system  en¬ 
tirely  new  to  the  English  soldiery.  Only 
through  the  brilliant  work  of  General  Wash¬ 
ington,  then  a  young  colonial,  was  the  English 
army  saved  from  complete  annihilation.  It 


^  *•'■'»*>**  /I  **>r<  y  <,».*»  <Ar  (>y«  *-\tY  j>jfo  . 

ASHLAND  BOULEVARD  AND  HARRISON  STREET 


_  jfenftoj) i  ’'What  Cmv 

4  Big  Day  With 
Happiness,,  J 


This  announcement,  except  the  actual  type  matter,  is  a 
beautiful  color  piece  of  “off  set  printing,”  originally  designed 
for  and  used  by  florists.  Because  of  the  illustration  of  the 
church  in  the  back  ground  it  became  equally  valuable  as  a 
church  announcement  when  adapted.  (See  page  206.) 


'■iUit  itofti  Ctjrist  Wfi  n'ntsrt)  from  %  hrnti,  !!«■  firoi  fruit*  of  litem 
Strcaalecp.”  1  Cor.  15:211. 

9:30  Sunday  School 

SjHH-ml  Easter  Program  of  Recitation  ami  Snug. 

10:45  Morning  Preaching 

Sermon  :  '"Hie  Tun  Disvjples  at  tltcj  Tomb,”  Post 
,  ar.L  of  Tanner’s  painting  in  the  Art  Institute  will 
Ik-  distributed. 

■  Musi.-:  St'.  Paul  Choir,  assisted  by  Mrs.  DuJlie  Hull 
.Sailer,  1  hirpis  i  • 

Baptism  of  Children,  Reception  of Members,  Etc. 

FBKE-WILL '  SELF-DENIAL  .■•OFFERING." 


5:30  Fellowship  Hour 


"Christ  the  Healer.”  an  Faster  Study  aided  by  the 
Mereepiieou.  hum  boon  served  by  the  V,  W.  C.  A., 
assisted  by  nurses  from  Mary  Thompson  Hospital. 


0:30  Epworth  League 


Fifteen  young  women  will  tell  of  a  trip  to  Hu!)  House 
and  HaUted  Street  Institutional  Church.  A  live 
■meeting.  ' 

7  : 45  Everting  Preaching 

ORATORIO,  “The  Crucifixion.”  Stainer.  'St.  Paul 
•Chorus  Choir,  Male  Quartet.  Prof.  H.  H.  William*. 

directing. 

About  Myself?” 

ROY  L.  SMITH 

Minister,  . 


32 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


was  not  a  question  of  valor  but  of  method. 
The  church  to-day,  in  thousands  of  instances, 
has  been  ambushed.  It  is  fighting  desperately 
according  to  the  code  of  thirty  years  ago,  but 
ours  is  a  new  and  bewildering  day  when  a 
change  in  tactics  must  be  made  with  unpre¬ 
cedented  haste  or  the  loss  will  be  serious. 

The  conventional  appeal  has  failed.  The 
masses  were  never  more  desperately  in  need  of 
the  gospel  message  than  to-day.  Some  way 
must  be  found  to  get  a  hearing  and  the  man 
who  finds  an  entrance  into  the  hearts  of  the 
common  people  and  learns  to  speak  their  lan¬ 
guage  will  never  lack  hearers,  for  there  are 
millions  of  them. 


CHAPTER  II 


OUR  HEAVIEST  BAT 

It  is  said  that  no  small  part  of  the  success 
of  Babe  Ruth  is  due  to  the  fact  that  he  swings 
the  heaviest  bat  ever  used  in  professional 
base  ball.  Behind  that  heavy  club,  of  course, 
are  an  eye  trained  to  accuracy,  a  pair  of  mas¬ 
sive  shoulders  and  a  judgment  born  of  years  of 
experience.  But  all  these  advantages  would 
be  of  no  avail  if  he  used  a  featherweight  bat. 

A  frequent  reason  for  empty  pews  is  the 
light-weight  bat  the  preacher  uses.  Moving 
pictures,  lectures  on  popular  topics,  open 
forums,  musical  features,  and  sensational 
advertising  will  attract  crowds  for  a  time,  but 
they  will  not  build  up  a  permanent  congre¬ 
gation  of  worshipers.  The  final  test  of  a  min¬ 
ister’s  work  is  not  the  crowds  that  hear  him, 
but  the  crowd  that  is  so  attached  to  the  church 
that  it  comes  to  hear  his  successor. 

There  is  great  danger  of  forgetting  the  mes¬ 
sage  in  devising  the  method.  Any  method  is 
but  the  vehicle  for  the  presentation  of  the  mes¬ 
sage  and  must  always  take  a  subordinate 

33 


34 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


place.  The  preacher  who  is  passionately 
eager  to  give  his  people  the  “word  of  life" 
will  find  it  easy  to  consecrate  a  method ,  but  no 
brilliancy  or  novelty  in  the  service  will  ever 
atone  for  the  absence  of  a  prophetic  word. 
Tlie  only  permanent  foundation  upon  which  a 
Sunday-evening  audience  can  be  built  is  an 
earnest  evangelism.  Every  other  element  in 
the  service  must  be  contrived  to  serve  this  end. 
This  is  our  heaviest  bat. 

Donald  Hankey  gave  ns  a  fine  phrase  when 
he  spoke  of  “the  religion  of  the  inarticulate.” 
By  this  he  meant  that  vast  tide  of  spiritual 
aspiration  which  is  not  recognized  as  being 
religious.  “There’s  something  in  me  that  tells 
me  I  ought  to  be  a  better  man/’  says  the  grimy 
stoker.  “Sometimes  I  get  so  disgusted  with 
my  useless  way  of  living!”  exclaims  the  girl 
who  has  been  pounding  the  typewriter  through 
purposeless  days.  “I  wish  you  would  help  me 
find  something  to  do  that  is  really  worth 
while,”  pleads  a  girl  in  the  midst  of  her  filing 
cases.  “I  don’t  mind  my  work,  but  I  don’t 
seem  to  be  doing  anything  for  the  world,” 
confides  the  salesman  in  a  burst  of  confidence. 
Just  under  the  surface  in  every  human  soul 
there  is  a  powerful  religious  instinct  that 
craves. expression.  An  appeal  to  this  instinct, 
in  language  that  the  man  of  the  street  under- 


A  twenty-four  sheet  poster  board  with  a  hand-painted  poster.  Twenty-two  of  these  boards  were  used 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Simpson  Church  during  January,  February,  and  March.  This  is  the  dull  season 
for  poster  advertising,  but  the  best  season  for  church  purposes  and  the  advertising  company  made  great 
concessions  in  their  rates.  (See  page  199.) 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


3G 

stands,  will  find  response  that  is  spontaneous 
and  genuine.  Happy  is  the  man  who  under¬ 
stands  his  own  impulses,  and  wise  indeed  is 
the  preacher  who  recognizes  the  divine  origin 
of  these  yearnings  and  claims  them  for  God 
and  the  Kingdom.  This  is  evangelism  of  the 
highest  order. 

A  great  part  of  this  “inarticulate  reli¬ 
gion’7  is  finding  expression,  outside  the  church, 
in  social  service,  charitable  enterprise,  and 
community  uplift.  The  Spirit  of  God  never 
has  operated  exclusively  within  the  boundaries 
of  church  membership.  The  war  revealed 
great  spiritual  capacities  of  humanity  which 
the  church  must  now  capture  in  the  name  of 
religion,  setting  them  to  new  and  practical 
peace-time  tasks.  No  small  obligation  of  mod¬ 
ern  evangelism  is  the  revelation  to  men  of  the 
divine  origin  of  this  new  passion  for  idealism 
and  calling  upon  them  to  surrender  their  lives 
to  the  leadership  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  who  is 
its  unrecognized  author. 

The  pulpit  has  not  always  attended  to  its 
own  business.  It  has  done  many  good  things 
but  it  lias  not  done  the  one  thing  necessary — 
it  has  not  interpreted  to  men,  in  terms  com¬ 
monly  understood,  the  spiritual  significance  of 
some  of  life’s  loyalties.  We  must  use  every 
legitimate  aid  in  preaching  the  gospel,  re- 


OUR  HEAVIEST  BAT 


37 


membering  always  that  the  Message  is  the 
fundamental  purpose  of  the  service.  To  omit 
or  obscure  the  Message  is  to  fail  before  we 
begin. 

While  the  church  service  should  always  be 
interesting,  its  purpose  is  not  to  entertain. 
The  church  will  never  be  able  to  compete  with 
the  theater  in  furnishing  entertainment.  It 
will  never  have  the  money  to  buy  talent  to 
compete  with  amusement  houses.  It  does  not 
need  to  compete.  To  fill  the  church  with 
eager-eyed,  open-hearted  people  and  then 
merely  entertain  them  is  to  use  a  feather¬ 
weight  bat. 

Nor  is  the  church  a  popular  classroom  in 
economics  and  sociology.  Of  course  the 
church  should  be  first  to  denounce  social  in¬ 
justice,  but  it  is  not  necessary  that  the 
preacher  invent  a  cure-all  for  the  economic 
mistakes  of  his  generation.  He  is  to  preach 
principles  upon  which  the  organization  of  a 
new  industrial  order  is  to  proceed;  the  scien¬ 
tific  economist  must  find  the  method.  The  ap¬ 
peal  of  the  church  is  to  the  common  conscience 
which,  when  trained  to  see  injustice,  can  be 
trusted  to  direct  economic  adjustments. 

The  church  is  more  than  a  lecture  hall.  It 
will  stimulate  a  thirst  for  knowledge  and  in¬ 
spire  men  to  delve  for  truth,  but  no  discussion 


oo 

oo 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


of  Browning  or  Shakespeare  or  modern  drama 
will  ever  grip  the  hearts  of  an  audience  like  a 
simple  utterance  on  the  pathway  to  spiritual 
peace.  Many  men  know  nothing  about  Brown¬ 
ing  but  everything  about  trouble. 

The  late  Dr.  Frank  W.  Gunsaulus  was  rid¬ 


ing  across  the  city  of  Chicago  with  a  young 
theological  student  and  the  conversation,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  turned  upon  the 
subject  of  preaching.  “You  will  always  find,” 
said  the  great  preacher,  “certain  fundamental 
needs  in  every  audience.  One  is  a  remedy  for 
sin  and  another  is  help  in  trouble.  Preach 
helpfully  on  these  themes  and  you  will  never 
lack  an  audience.” 


All  men  will  confess  that  they  have  troubles, 
but  not  all  men  will  confess  that  they  are  sin¬ 
ful.  They  prefer  to  speak  of  their  “mistakes” 
and  apologize  for  their  “weaknesses,”  But 
the  essential  fact  of  sin  remains  and  the 
preacher  must  bring  his  audience  under  con¬ 
viction.  The  man  who  can  awaken  a  sense 
of  need,  and  then  offer  a  cure,  with  a  promise 
of  help,  will  find  eager  listeners  sitting  at 
his  feet.  Many  men  have  accepted  their  “be¬ 
setting  sins”  as  infirmities  that  can  never  be 
cured — as  necessary  evils  to  be  endured.  The 
pulpit  must  preach  the  “gospel  of  discontent,” 
a  discontent  with  sin  and  weakness. 


OUR  HEAVIEST  BAT 


39 


Jesus  said,  “I  am  the  Way.”  He  meant,  “I 
am  the  way  out/’  That  is  why  the  gospel  is 
good  news.  Men  everywhere  are  looking  for 
some  way  out.  Every  father  wants  to  hear 
the  good  news — the  fathers  of  prodigal  girls 
and  erring  hoys.  Every  worried  mother  wants 
to  hear  the  good  news.  The  worker  wants  to 
hear  that  life  is  more  than  enslavement  to  a 
machine.  The  business  man  wants  to  hear 
that  life  is  more  than  pay  rolls  and  labor 
tronbles.  The  betrayed  girl  wants  to  know 
that  there  is  a  way  to  come  back.  The  stu¬ 
dent  wants  to  know  the  answer  to  the  ques¬ 
tion  his  textbooks  have  neglected — “What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved?”  The  ignorant  and 
the  wise,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  radical  and 
the  conservative,  the  native  born  and  the  alien 
— all  the  world  wants  to  know  that  God  is  in 
the  world  working,  fighting,  struggling  for  the 
deliverance  of  men. 

Let  it  be  the  central  purpose,  therefore,  of 
every  service  to  present  the  story  of  “good 
news”  in  such  a  way  that  some  wayworn 
traveler  can  find  the  pathway  to  peace.  The 
theater  can  make  people  forget  tlieir  troubles, 
but  the  church  has  a  cure.  The  psychological 
laboratory  may  diagnose  the  disease,  but  the 
church  prescribes  for  the  cause.  It  is  the  task 
of  the  church  to  catch  the  ear  of  the  public  and 


40 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


then  tell  the  good  news  in  language  the  com¬ 
mon  man  can  understand. 

Though  I  have  a  scientific  mind  and  a  uni¬ 
versity  degree  in  sociology  and  philosophy, 
and  though  I  am  an  expert  in  social  service 
and  an  authority  on  Browning,  and  though  I 
use  the  language  of  the  scientific  laboratory 
so  as  to  deceive  the  very  elect  into  thinking  I 
am  a  scholar,  and  have  not  a  message  of  salva¬ 
tion  and  redemption  for  the  man  without  hope, 
I  am  a  misfit  in  the  pulpit  and  no  preacher  of 
the  gospel. 


CHAPTER  III 


IMPROVING  THE  CAN 

A  well-known  manufacturer  of  talcum 
powder  used  this  phrase  in  his  advertising  a 
few  years  ago:  “We  couldn’t  improve  the 
powder,  so  we  tried  to  improve  the  can.”  It 
is  certain  that  no  preacher  will  ever  find  a 
message  which  the  world  needs  more  des¬ 
perately  than  the  old-fashioned  gospel,  but  he 
can  find  a  new  way  to  present  the  gospel  with 
effectiveness. 

The  low  ebb  of  church  attendance  is  due,  in 
part,  to  the  new  forms  of  competition  of  which 
our  fathers  knew  nothing.  Automobiles  and 
superb  country  roads  clamor  for  a  share  of 
Sunday.  The  Sunday  newspaper  has  grown 
up  among  us  and  Sunday  morning  finds  many 
men,  like  Zaechseus,  “lost  in  the  press.”  Busi¬ 
ness  life  has  been  geared  to  higher  speed. 
Games  have  been  invented  since  the  advent  of 
the  automobile  which  help  take  men  away 
from  church.  Moving  pictures  are  cheap  and 
practically  universal,  and  youth  is  attracted 
by  bright  lights  and  ringing  laughter.  A  few 

41 


42 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


years  ago  the  church  was  almost  the  only  open 
door  on  Sunday  evening.  Now  there  are  open 
doors  everywhere,  competing  strenuously  for 
youth’s  patronage. 

While  the  church  has  been  facing  a  problem 


other  institutions  have  been  gaining  in  popu¬ 
lar  favor.  Just  as  the  allies  learned  much  of 
the  art  of  war  from  their  enemies,  so  perhaps 
it  may  reward  us  to  study  the  mechanics  by 
which  our  competitors  capture  crowds. 

One  of  the  first  things  we  discover  is  the 
fact  that  these  institutions  “talk  in  plain 
United  States.”  It  would  astonish  many  a 
minister  to  discover  what  a  large  proportion 
of  his  language,  particularly  his  pulpit  vo¬ 
cabulary,  is  absolutely  unintelligible  to  the 
common  man  of  the  street.  Many  religious 
phrases  and  expressions  once  rich  in  meaning, 
have  no  significance  to  people  who  do  not  have 
years  of  religious  training  as  a  background. 
The  lack  of  such  training  is  more  widespread 
than  is  generally  realized.  We  have  taken  the 
Bible  out  of  the  public  schools,  dismissed  the 
old-fashioned  catechism  classes,  and  stopped 
holding  debates  on  religious  questions.  The 
kindly  tolerance  of  to-day  provides  no  substi¬ 
tute  for  the  polemics  by  which  our  fathers 
were  educated  in  religious  thinking.  As  a 
consequence,  much  of  the  phraseology  of  the 


A  “window  card”  announcing  a  neighborhood  gathering 
on  election  night,  taking  advantage  of  the  seasonal  interest. 
More  than  one  thousand  people  came  to  get  the  election 
returns  and  spend  a  social  evening.  This  was  not  a  religious 
service,  but  the  program  offered  excellent  opportunity  to 
acquaint  the  crowd  with  the  activities  and  services  of  the 
church.  (See  page  179.) 


44 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


pulpit  seems  unreal  and  stilted  to  common 
folk.  The  theater  and  the  newspaper  may 
speak  bluntly  or  even  rudely,  but  they  always 
speak  intelligibly. 

It  might  be  an  excellent  postgraduate 
course,  following  the  theological  seminary,  to 
go  behind  the  counter,  into  the  shops,  upon 
the  trucks  or  elsewhere  in  the  busy  walks  of 
men,  to  learn  the  language  of  the  plain  people. 
We  can  never  make  our  presentation  effective 
until  we  have  learned  the  language  of  the 
world  in  which  we  live.  That  language  is  not 
the  language  of  the  lecture  hall,  the  scientific 
laboratory  or  the  textbook.  To  most  men 
psychologists,  sociologists,  scientists,  and  theo¬ 
logians  speak  in  a  foreign  tongue.  Nothing 
can  be  more  disastrous  if  one  is  trying  to  inter¬ 
est  plain  people.  It  is  not  necessary  to  stoop 
to  gutter  slang,  but  every  utterance  from  the 
pulpit  should  be  crystal  clear  in  its  moral  and 
religious  meaning. 

Jesus  never  tried  to  make  his  hearers  think 
he  was  profound.  By  the  use  of  the  simplest 
language  and  the  most  obvious  illustrations 
lie  made  himself  plain.  He  used  the  familiar 
speech  of  the  common  people  to  preach  the 
gospel  of  redemption. 

Next  we  discover  that  the  issues  discussed 
on  the  stage  are  the  deepest  and  most  absorb- 


IMPROVING  THE  CAN 


45 


ing  problems  of  life.  A  great  theme  may  be 
treated  in  a  trivial,  disgusting  fashion,  but  it 
remains  a  great  theme.  Sex  problems  have 
been  so  persistently  exploited  that  some  one 
has  pertinently  remarked,  “It  is  about  sex 
o’clock  on  the  American  stage.”  Yet  the  prob¬ 
lem  of  sex  is  of  absorbing  interest  to  multi¬ 
tudes  of  young  and  old.  The  modern  sinner 
is  so  gorgeously  gowned  and  so  bewitcliingly 
portrayed  that  the  fact  of  sin  has  been  eclipsed 
by  the  splendor  of  the  sinner.  On  the  themes 
of  sex  and  love  the  church  has  a  message  that 
is  clean  and  constructive,  but  such  subjects 
have  been  shunned,  usually,  except  by  sensa¬ 
tionalists.  The  preacher  who  can  handle  such 
subjects  with  delicacy  and  sincerity  will  cap¬ 
ture  the  interest  of  crowds. 

What  an  opportunity  the  preacher  has  to 
deal  with  the  great  ideas  and  facts  of  life ! 
The  newspaper  man  is  always  immersed  in 
the  annals  of  crime  and  scandal.  The  lawyer 
must  spend  his  time  with  titles  and  disputes. 
The  politician  lives  among  compromises  and 
stratagems,  but  for  the  preacher  the  prob¬ 
lems  and  questions  of  the  centuries  are  “grist 
for  his  mill.”  With  the  authority  of  divine 
approval  he  can  speak  on  life’s  most  intimate 
relations  with  the  word,  “Thus  saith  the 
Lord!”  What  a  betrayal  of  trust  is  the  sin 


4G 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


of  triviality!  The  announcement  of  a  subject 
is  like  a  sieve :  great  themes  draw  serious 
crowds,  trivial  subjects  attract  only  curiosity 
seekers. 

The  preacher  who  is  seeking  a  Sunday-eve¬ 
ning  audience  must  invest  his  philosophical 
studies  with  life.  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells  did  a  rare 
bit  of  preaching  when  he  told  us  the  story  of 
Mr.  B rifling.  Doctrinal  themes  can  be  used 
most  effectively  in  the  morning  service  when 
seasoned  church-goers  are  usually  in  the  ma¬ 
jority,  but  the  Sunday-evening  service  should 
deal  intimately  and  directly  with  living  issues. 

The  world  is  hunting  for  happiness.  By 
promising  happiness  the  amusement  house  has 
attracted  a  multitude,  only  to  give  people  a 
laugh.  A  laugh  is  a  poor  substitute  for  hap¬ 
piness  when  the  soul  is  sick  and  the  heart  is 
faint.  The  tragedy  of  it  all  lies  in  the  fact 
that  laughter  often  dulls  the  spiritual  senses 
until  there  is  no  appreciation  of  the  deep  needs 
of  the  soul.  Meanwhile  the  church  has 
achieved  the  reputation  of  being  melancholy 
when  it  has  only  tried  to  be  serious.  “The 
devil  has  been  credited  with  inventing  the 
pleasures  of  the  world  which  is  giving  him 
more  than  his  due.”  Cheerfulness  is  not 
frivolity.  The  church  does  not  need  to  become 
shallow  as  it  dispenses  good  cheer,  but  it  must 


Decorations  for  Armistice  Day.  Note  the  rifles  with  flowers  in  the  barrels, 
also  the  spider  web  woven  over  rifles  and  machine  guns  to  suggest  disuse. 
(See  page  148.) 


48 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


convince  the  world  that  it  has  a  message  of 
happiness  which  will  mean  joy  the  whole  year 
through.  One  church  has  been  called  “The 
House  of  Happiness.”  It  has  given  thousands 
of  men  in  that  city  a  happiness  that  lasts.  Let 
every  church  declare  its  ability  to  make  men 
happy. 

Amusement  houses  are  located  with  rare 
strategy.  A  church  may  be  located  on  a  back 
street,  in  the  middle  of  the  block,  or  wher¬ 
ever  there  is  a  bargain  in  real  estate,  but  the 
theater  stands  where  the  people  pass.  Thea¬ 
ters  make  prodigal  use  of  light,  for  brilliancy 
on  the  outside  indicates  cheer  and  happiness 
on  the  inside.  The  church,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  not  always  sufficiently  lighted  to  make  en¬ 
trances  and  exits  safe.  The  show  house  keeps 
its  walk  clean  and  its  doors  wide  open  when 
the  church  allows  its  people  to  wade  through 
snow  and  mud  to  get  to  its  doors.  Ushers 
are  always  ready,  the  auditorium  well  warmed 
and  cleaned,  and  the  physical  needs  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  are  well  cared  for  in  the  theater,  while  the 
opposite  is  too  often  true  of  the  church.  In 
other  words,  the  church,  which  is  interested  in 
the  souls  of  folk,  must  learn  to  be  as  con¬ 
siderate  as  the  theater,  which  is  interested  in 
their  money.  Happy  is  that  church  whose 
janitor  is  called  of  God! 


IMPROVING  THE  CAN 


49 


Another  element  in  the  success  of  onr  com¬ 
petitor  is  the  liberal  use  of  advertising.  Every 
theatrical  attraction  is  heralded  in  superla¬ 
tives,  but  church  advertising  seldom  has  much 
urgency  in  it.  Services  are  held  next  Sunday 
“as  usual.”  Unfortunately,  the  church  has 
not  learned  the  value  of  good  printing.  Too 
often  the  work  is  done  by  the  shop  which  gives 
a  “reasonable  price”  and  an  abominable  job. 
Of  course  the  church  cannot  spend  large  sums 
of  money  as  theaters  do,  but  all  advertising 
used  should  be  of  the  finest  quality.  The  best 
printing  is  always  the  cheapest.  Advertising 
is  salesmanship  on  paper,  and  if  church  adver¬ 
tising  does  not  betray  a  hot  heart  it  will  not 
convince  the  non-churchgoer  of  the  necessity 
of  church  attendance. 

Again,  part  of  the  success  of  the  theater  is 
due  to  the  variety  of  appeal  made  to  the  public. 
Of  course  there  is  a  uniformity  in  the  serv¬ 
ices  of  the  church  which  is  inevitable,  but 
there  are  numerous  opportunities  for  introduc¬ 
ing  variety  which  will  enthuse  an  audience 
and  make  a  real  contribution  to  the  spirit  of 
worship.  For  there  can  be  no  real  worship 
without  interest,  and  variety  can  produce 
interest. 

One  very  successful  preacher  to  Sunday-eve¬ 
ning  audiences  asserts  that  he  always  wears  a 


50 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


complete  change  of  clothes  for  his  evening 
service.  Even  the  change  of  a  collar,  a  tie  or 
a  waistcoat  will  have  value.  Sunday-school 
classes  can  provide  decorations.  Musical  fea¬ 
tures,  special  ushers,  asking  the  audience  to 
choose  the  hymns,  volunteer  prayers,  reading 
the  verses  of  a  hymn  instead  of  singing  them, 
singing  without  lights,  electrical  effects,  an- 
tiplional  singing — all  these  expedients  will  fur¬ 
nish  variety  and  help  to  capture  the  interest 
of  a  crowd. 

To  thousands  of  people  the  Sunday-evening 
theater  is  an  oasis  in  a  week  of  desert  dull¬ 
ness.  If  the  church  is  to  capture  these  crowds, 
it  must  offer  some  escape  from  monotony.  If 
we  are  to  go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges 
after  folk,  it  will  mean  that  we  frequently  for¬ 
sake  the  beaten  path.  Can  it  be  done  without 
cheapness?  Can  the  principles  and  devices 
which  bring  success  to  the  theater  be  used  by 
the  church?  The  stage  is  a  land  of  pretense, 
but  the  pulpit  must  be  sincere.  To  escape  the 
charge  of  being  theatrical  we  must  consecrate 
our  methods  to  the  supreme  purpose  of  the 
service  which  is  to  bring  men  into  right  rela¬ 
tion  with  God.  Subsequent  chapters  will 
undertake  to  show  how  the  very  things  which 
have  lured  people  away  from  church  can  be 
used  in  a  reverent  way  to  bring  them  back. 


CHAPTER  IV 


GETTING  INTO  TROY 

The  army  which  surrounded  the  ancient 
city  of  Troy  stood  defeated  for  weeks  until  a 
strategist  conceived  the  idea  of  secreting  a  few 
soldiers  inside  a  gigantic  horse  and  thus  enter¬ 
ing  the  city  to  open  the  gates  to  the  invader. 
The  churclp  likewise,  must  find  some  way  to 
get  through  the  walls  of  prejudice,  ignorance, 
indifference,  and  preoccupation,  into  the  hearts 
of  the  people.  Even  to  have  the  people  in 
church  is  not  enough — their  hearts  must  be 
touched  and  their  wills  brought  to  a  decision. 

The  reader*  must  remember  that  we  are  deal¬ 
ing  with  the  question  of  the  Sunday-evening 
service.  That  the  morning  service  serves  its 
purpose  well  is  evident  by  the  crowds  of  peo¬ 
ple  who  usually  attend.  Our  present  interest 
is  in  strengthening  the  appeal  of  the  church 
to  the  multitudes  who  do  not  attend  church 
regularly  and  who  have  little  interest  in  the 
call  to  morning  worship. 

If  the  evening  service  is  a  duplicate  in  form 
of  the  morning  worship,  then  we  are  making 
two  appeals  to  the  same  audience.  If  this  ap- 

51 


Various  views  of  the  church  can  be  featured  in  the  adver¬ 
tising.  This  represents  one  way  in  which  a  picture  of  an 
entrance  can  be  used.  Very  effective  on  handbills,  posters, 
and  bulletins. 


GETTING  INTO  TROY 


53 


peal  is  capturing  crowds  for  both  services, 
then  there  is  no  reason  to  change.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  appeal  is  failing,  then  our 
consecration  to  our  calling  ought  to  drive  us 
to  forsake  the  beaten  paths  and  devise  a  new 
type  of  service  which  will  reach  the  people. 

Blazing  new  trails  is  not  an  easy  task. 
There  is  no  easy  ivay  to  preach  the  yospel  to 
crowds.  The  preacher  must  be  willing  to 
spend  himself  to  exhaustion  in  getting  his 
message  to  the  people.  If  the  theater  will 
spend  fortunes  and  go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth 
to  find  attractions  to  entertain  the  public,  can 
we  be  satisfied  to  do  less  in  an  effort  to  preach 
the  gospel  of  redemption? 

No  plan  will  succeed  for  the  preacher  who 
does  not  understand  the  mind  of  his  audience. 
The  discerning  man  will  discover  three  char¬ 
acteristics  in  a  promiscuous  Sunday-evening 
audience.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  an  atti¬ 
tude  of  suspicion.  The  average  outsider 
thinks  the  church  is  trying  to  compel  people 
to  believe  something,  and  most  men  resent  be¬ 
ing  told  what  they  must  believe.  We  are  all 
Protestants  at  heart.  We  insist  upon  our 
right  to  do  our  own  thinking.  In  the  second 
place,  there  is  much  discouragement  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  Every  man  sees  his  own 
worries  magnified.  Each  one  thinks  his  case 


54 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


is  “peculiar.”  In  the  third  place,  there  is  al¬ 
ways  a  keen  interest  in  something  new.  The 
minister  who  can  devise  new  settings  for  his 
message  will  make  a  powerful  appeal  to  the 
spirit  of  curiosity  which  is  strong  in  every 
man.  To  meet  this  attitude  of  suspicion,  dis¬ 
couragement,  and  curiosity,  the  preacher  must 
combine  three  qualities — conviction,  cheerful¬ 
ness,  and  sympathy. 

A  world-famous  musician  was  instructing 
his  pupils  concerning  their  public  appearances 
when  he  said,  “If  you  want  your  audience  to 
warm  up,  you  must  be  hot  yourself.  If  you 
want  them  to  forget  themselves,  you  must  be 
on  fire.  If  you  would  lire  them  Avitli  your  en¬ 
thusiasm,  you  must  be  consumed.”  There  is 
a  tine  homiletical  principle  in  that  advice. 
The  man  who  is  on  lire  Avith  liis  message  for¬ 
gets  many  of  the  discriminations  of  dignity; 
and  if  he  is  consumed  with  his  earnestness,  he 
Avill  make  his  audience  forget. 

Nothing  does  more  for  an  audience  than  en¬ 
thusiasm,  Avhicli  the  ancients  called  “the  lire 
of  the  soul.”  Because  the  minister  is  the  domi¬ 
nating  personality  of  the  service  he  must  sup¬ 
ply  that  enthusiasm.  No  man  can  create  en¬ 
thusiasm  in  his  audience  until  lie  has  lost 
himself  in  the  service.  The  quickest  Avay  to 
master  a  crowd  is  to  forget  oneself. 


GETTING  INTO  TROY 


55 


The  service  must  be  permeated  by  a  spirit 
of  unfeigned  joy.  In  a  world  of  trouble  there 
is  no  more  Cliristlike  task  than  bringing  cheer 
and  hope  to  the  heartsick  and  weary.  Read 
the  New  Testament  and  see  how  many  times 
Jesus  exhorted  his  followers  to  be  of  good 
cheer.  Joy  never  dies  when  Jesus  comes  near. 
Clean,  joyous  fun  was  never  interrupted  by 
liis  approach.  If  the  church  is  to  do  Jesus’ 
work,  it  must  learn  to  touch  men  into  happi¬ 
ness.  Without  sacrificing  seriousness  the 
church  service  should  send  people  out,  happy 
in  heart  and  courageous  in  spirit.  Nothing 
contributes  more  to  the  spirit  of  good  cheer 
than  a  smile  broad  enough  to  reach  from  the 
preacher  to  the  audience.  Not  an  artificial, 
manufactured  smile,  but  an  expression  of  joy 
that  rises  from  the  fact  that  we  have  a  mes¬ 
sage,  an  audience,  and  certain  help  for  a  com¬ 
mon  need.  Scanning  the  faces  of  the  people 
we  will  see  the  marks  of  care,  traces  of  trouble, 
and  eyes  that  were  recently  wet  with  tears. 
To  transform  these  sober  faces  into  smiling 
countenances  and  to  make  depressed  hearts 
into  eager  souls,  to  see  men  lift  eyes  to  behold 
their  Father — such  a  privilege  should  fill  a 
man  with  such  joy  that  he  could  not  help  smil¬ 
ing. 

Good  humor  is  an  absolute  necessity  in  a 


56 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


popular  Sunday-evening  service.  This  does 
not  mean  that  the  preacher  must  tell  anecdotes 
and  provoke  hilarious  laughter.  It  does  mean, 
however,  that  many  a  delightful  feature  can 
be  introduced  into  the  service  with  entire  ap¬ 
propriateness  which  will  carry  people  far 
away  from  the  monotony  of  the  workaday 
world.  Musical  novelties,  dramatic  features, 
lighting  effects,  and  many  other  variations  can 
be  introduced  into  a  service  with  splendid 
advantage.  Applause,  if  it  is  spontaneous 
and  hearty,  is  a  positive  contribution  to  the 
service  and  a  help  to  the  worshiper.  It  is 
but  another  way  of  expressing  approval,  and 
the  psychologist  has  always  insisted  that  ex¬ 
pression  is  the  surest  way  of  deepening  impres¬ 
sion. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  one  of  the  great 
metropolitan  newspapers  opened  a  department 
called  “Letters  of  the  Lovelorn.7’  Any  person 
might  ask  any  question  he  wished,  assured 
that  it  would  be  taken  seriously  no  matter 
how  trivial  it  might  seem.  The  idea  upon 
which  the  department  was  founded  was  a 
simple  one.  No  matter  how  trivial  a  question 
may  seem  to  us,  it  is  not  trivial  to  the  one  who 
asked  it.  Few  people  can  endure  having  their 
worries  laughed  at.  The  church  service,  there¬ 
fore,  must  manifest  sympathy  with  the  worries 


The  Minnesota  Ministers’  Quartet  singing  “The  Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Wildwood,”  accompanied  by 
a  chalk  drawing;  a  very  effective  way  of  presenting  the  message  of  a  song.  (See  page  100.) 


58 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


and  problems  of  the  people.  Nothing  that  is 
causing  anxiety  and  concern  among  the  wor¬ 
shipers  is  too  trivial  to  claim  attention.  The 
preacher  who  lifts  these  burdens  in  the  course 
of  his  service  need  never  worry  about  a  hear¬ 
ing. 

The  heart  of  the  masses  is  hungry  for  a 
word  of  sympathy  from  the  man  who  takes 
its  problems  seriously.  Regardless  of  what 
may  have  attracted  men  to  the  house  of  God, 
if  they  come  face  to  face  with  their  own  need 
and  Christ’s  power  to  minister  to  that  need,' 
they  will  bless  the  minister  and  thank  God  for 
the  hours  they  spent  in  “The  House  of  Hap¬ 
piness.” 


CHAPTER  V 


MAKING  A  CONGREGATION  OUT  OF  A 

CROWD 

The  purpose  for  which  the  church  brings 
crowds  together  differs  radically  from  that 
which  governs  a  theater.  The  theatrical  man¬ 
ager  is  satisfied  if  he  can  entertain.  Pie  does 
not  ask  the  crowd  to  approve  the  ideal  of  his 
play.  He  may  present  a,  play  with  a  great 
moral  lesson,  but  he  does  not  ask  the  indi¬ 
viduals  of  the  audience  to  put  that  lesson  into 
life.  He  is  satisfied  if  the  crowd  is  pleased 
with  his  entertainment.  The  church,  on  the 
other  hand,  gathers  a  crowd  for  the  purpose  of 
presenting  ideas  and  convictions  in  such  a 
manner  that  they  may  be  accepted  and  made 
a  part  of  life.  It  seeks  personal  commitments 
and  tries  to  organize  public  opinion  in  sup¬ 
port  of  its  ideas. 

The  difference  in  problem  demands  a  differ¬ 
ence  in  program.  The  church  which  has  been 
successful  in  gathering  a  crowd  of  people  must 
take  them  as  they  are,  but  it  cannot  leave  them 
so.  It  must  establish  a  leadership  and  pro- 

59 


00 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


yoke  action.  Men  who  have  come  to  be  enter¬ 
tained,  or  educated,  or  thrilled  must  be  taught 
to  worship  together  and  to  commit  themselves 
to  the  dominant  idea  of  the  service.  To  estab¬ 
lish  such  control  requires  generalship  of  the 
highest  order. 

The  first  step  is  to  get  the  people  at  ease. 
The  average  person  does  not  like  to  feel  con¬ 
spicuous,  preferring  to  lose  himself  in  the 
crowd.  Doing  the  thing  the  crowd  does,  he 
forgets  himself,  and  it  is  as  important  that  the 
crowd  shall  forget  itself  as  that  the  preacher 
shall  forget  himself.  Nothing  produces  this 
effect  so  satisfactorily  as  spirited  singing.  The 
better  the  song  is  known  the  easier  it  is  for 
people  to  lose  themselves  in  it.  It  is  almost 
fatal  to  open  a  service  with  an  unfamiliar 
hymn.  Start  with  something  that  all  can  sing 
without  a  book.  For  this  reason  the  old  songs 
are  best. 

The  more  mass  action  that  can  be  secured  in 
the  early  part  of  the  service,  the  more  readily 
is  the  leadership  of  the  preacher  established. 
Using  the  Lord’s  Prayer,  asking  the  people  to 
rise  together  for  singing,  doing  anything  to 
secure  the  participation  of  the  congregation  in 
the  service,  is  exceedingly  valuable  during  the 
first  fifteen  minutes. 

In  this  day  of  democracy  it  helps  much  if 


MAKING  A  CONGREGATION  61 


people  can  feel  that  the  service  belongs  to 
them.  Let  the  people  choose  the  hymns.  To 
avoid  the  “chilling  pause”  the  preacher  may 
select  the  first  hymn,  accompanying  its  an¬ 
nouncement  with  the  invitation  that  some  one 
from  the  congregation  shall  have  another  num¬ 
ber  ready  when  the  singing  of  the  first  is  fin¬ 
ished.  If  a  choice  is  not  immediately  forth¬ 
coming,  the  preacher  should  be  ready,  but  a 
little  friendly  exhortation  will  stimulate  the 
crowd  to  be  ready  the  next  time.  Of  course 
such  a  song  service  lacks  theological  unity,  but 
it  has  expressed  the  mood  of  the  people,  which 
is  far  more  important  for  the  purpose  of  the 
meeting. 

A  friendly  greeting  does  much  to  set  the  peo¬ 
ple  at  ease.  No  one  expects  to  be  spoken  to 
at  a  theater,  but  the  church  has  preached 
friendliness  so  long  that  it  is  a  victim  of  its 
own  success  and  a  lack  of  hospitality  is  a  fault 
that  is  seldom  forgiven.  Ushers  need  careful 
training.  No  workers  should  be  chosen  with 
greater  care.  They  represent  the  church’s 
first  approach  to  the  stranger.  Some  success¬ 
ful  churches  have  picked  a  group  of  their  most 
affable  people  and  stationed  them  at  the  en¬ 
trances  to  serve  as  greeters.  These  same  peo¬ 
ple  should  also  take  their  places  at  the  close 
of  the  service  to  invite  the  stranger  to  return. 


These  people  are  being  turned  away  from  a  church  that  seats  twelve  hundred. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  are  standing  up  inside. 


MAKING  A  CONGREGATION 


63 


Banks  liave  discovered  the  advantage  of  dis¬ 
playing  names  of  officers  on  the  front  of  their 
desks  and  cages.  Following  this  suggestion 
some  churches  have  put  badges  on  their  ushers, 
giving  their  names,  for  the  convenience  of  the 
stranger.  Pews  may  be  reserved  for  regular 
attendants  in  the  morning  service  if  local  con¬ 
ditions  permit,  but  nothing  is  a  more  serious 
handicap  in  the  evening  than  for  people  to 
feel  that  there  are  seats  into  which  they  must 
not  enter. 

The  newcomer  is  usually  anxious  to  take 
part  exactly  as  others  do.  He  watches  the 
crowd  to  avoid  blunders  which  will  make  him 
conspicuous.  The  leader  of  the  service  can 
do  much  to  put  strangers  at  ease  by  carefully 
indicating  what  is  to  be  done  next.  After  a 
few  moments  of  such  considerate  and  pains¬ 
taking  direction  the  people  begin  to  trust, 
assured  that  the  leader  will  not  permit  them 
to  be  embarrassed.  When  he  appeals  for  per¬ 
sonal  action  later  in  the  service  he  has  the 
advantage  of  having  already  gained  their  con¬ 
fidence. 

The  preacher  is  the  autocrat  of  the  service 
— he  controls  it  from  beginning  to  end.  In 
many  instances  he  uses  the  position  tyran¬ 
nically,  doing  all  the  praying,  all  the  talking 
and  all  the  worshiping.  The  most  successful 


64 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


informal  service  is  that  in  which  the  largest 
number  take  part.  Frequently  an  audience 
can  be  invited  to  contribute  its  own  Scripture 
lesson — each  person  quoting  some  passage  of 
Scripture  that  has  been  helpful.  At  other 
times  the  evening  prayer  will  consist  of  a 
dozen  or  more  short  prayers  from  the  audi¬ 
ence.  Such  features  are  absolutely  dependent 
upon  the  ability  of  the  leader  to  develop  a 
spirit  of  spontaneity,  but  this  can  be  greatly 
aided  by  arranging  in  advance  with  a  few  who 
can  be  depended  upon. 

No  man  can  dominate  an  audience  who  re¬ 
mains  seated  through  long  periods  of  the  serv¬ 
ice.  The  wise  salesman  knows  that  he  has  a 
better  chance  to  “sell  his  customer”  if  he  re¬ 
mains  standing  instead  of  accepting  the 
proffered  chair.  All  of  us  remember  instances 
when  we  were  losing  the  argument  until  we 
rose  to  our  feet  and  secured  the  advantage  of 
the  standing  position.  The  focal  point  of  the 
service  is  the  preacher.  If  he  takes  his  seat  he 
surrenders  this  advantage  over  the  crowd.  The 
only  times  he  can  do  so  with  safety  are  during 
the  rendering  of  special  music,  the  collecting 
of  the  offering  or  when  the  attention  of  the 
audience  rightful lv  belongs  to  someone  else. 

An  open-minded  audience  is  the  only  one 
susceptible  of  leadership.  The  audience  which 


MAKING  A  CONGREGATION  G5 


is  accustomed  to  follow  its  minister  will  sur¬ 
render  with  ease,  but  the  stranger  audience 
must  learn  bis  methods,  become  accustomed 
to  liis  logic,  and  develop  trust.  It  is  apt  to 
suspect  him  of  trying  to  force  it  into  some  un¬ 
comfortable  dilemma.  To  develop  the  open- 
minded  attitude  the  audience  must  be  caught 
off  its  guard.  It  comes  expecting  an  assault 
upon  its  reason,  its  opinions,  its  emotions,  or 
its  sensibilities  and  assumes  a  defensive  atti¬ 
tude  unconsciously.  It  will  not  be  convinced 
if  it  can  help  itself.  Therefore  a  flank  attack 
must  be  made  at  a  point  where  no  defenses 
are  built  up. 

An  audience  in  the  play  mood  is  in  the  finest 
state  of  open-mindedness.  The  people  want  to 
be  amused,  therefore  they  will  assist  in  every 
possible  way  if  they  think  the  leader  is  trying 
to  enter  into  a  “game”  with  them.  But  the 
play  mood  must  be  developed  by  the  preacher. 
This  does  not  mean  that  he  is  to  generate  a 
spirit  of  frivolity.  It  means  that  the  congre¬ 
gation  must  be  persuaded  to  work  together  al¬ 
most  unanimously  for  some  common  purpose. 
It  may  be  in  singing  a  hymn,  in  spreading  the 
spirit  of  acquaintanceship,  or  in  pitting  one 
section  of  the  house  against  another.  What¬ 
ever  can  develop  the  play  mood  will  be  of  the 
greatest  value  to  the  service,  for  the  mind  is 


MAKING  A  CONGREGATION 


67 


wide  open  during  play — it  is  receptive  and 
eager  for  suggestions.  Impressions  made  at 
such  a  time  sink  deeply. 

The  early  part  of  the  service  should  develop 
this  attitude  of  open-mindedness.  All  argu¬ 
mentative  and  controversial  questions  should 
be  held  in  abeyance.  The  service  should  pre¬ 
sent  an  appeal  and  not  an  argument.  Every 
emotional  aid  should  be  used.  Herein  lies 
the  value  of  the  evangelistic  singer  who  “pre¬ 
pares”  the  audience  for  the  preacher.  By 
friendly  suggestion  and  quiet  humor  he  breaks 
down  reserve  and  suspicion.  If  the  audience 
can  be  persuaded  to  do  one  thing  with  real  zest 
at  the  request  of  the  preacher,  success  is  not 
far  away. 

It  encourages  this  spirit  of  open  mindedness 
to  appeal  to  some  tender  memory.  Call  for 
the  selection  of  some  hymn  “that  you  heard 
them  sing  in  the  old  home  church.”  The  pul¬ 
pit  prayer  which  mentions  the  man  out  of 
work,  the  troubled  mother,  the  lonesome  lad, 
the  discouraged  girl,  or  the  tempted  ones  will 
break  down  the  stoutest  prejudice. 


CHAPTER  VI 


DOING  AS  THE  ROMANS  DO 

There  is  a  proverb,  “When  in  Rome,  do  as 
the  Romans  do.”  This  is  advice.  But  when 
we  are  in  a  crowd  we  are  pretty  apt  to  do  as 
the  crowd  does.  This  is  a  fact  of  common 
experience.  The  man  who  understands  how 
a  crowd  acts  in  given  circumstances  has  an 
enormous  advantage.  There  are  a  few  simple 
principles  of  crowd  psychology  which  are  im¬ 
portant  to  the  man  who  seeks  to  build  up  a 
Sunday-evening  congregation. 

The  crowd  does  not  do  any  original  think¬ 
ing;  it  accepts  the  ideas  that  are  given  by  its 
leaders.  Very  few  crowds  are  capable  of  care¬ 
ful  reasoning  even  when  composed  of  think¬ 
ing  people.  The  Sunday-evening  audience  is 
not  a  deliberative  body — it  does  not  come  to¬ 
gether  for  that  purpose.  Careful  reasoning 
and  didactic  presentations  succeed  better  in 
the  morning  service.  In  a  few  instances  the 
announcement  of  deep,  philosophical  themes 
in  which  the  public  is  temporarily  interested 
will  attract  an  audience  that  is  willing  to 
think,  but  this  is  the  exception. 

68 


DOING  AS  THE  ROMANS  DO  69 


Any  idea  that  is  to  master  the  crowd  must 
be  supplied  by  the  preacher.  To  secure 
mastery  of  the  crowd  for  his  idea,  the  preacher 
must  first  master  the  crowd  for  himself.  This 
means  that  he  must  attract  favorable  atten¬ 
tion.  The  leader  of  a  mob  is  a  man  who  has 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  mob  and  offered 
it  an  idea.  This  is  the  task  of  the  preacher  to 
Sunday-evening  audiences.  The  plan  of  serv¬ 
ice  makes  it  easy  to  do  so,  but  this  very  ad¬ 
vantage  is  sometimes  liis  undoing.  He  has 
thought  himself  the  master  of  the  crowd 
merely  because  he  has  stood  in  front  of  it  when 
the  real  mastery  was  in  the  possession  of  some 
restless  child  or  the  soprano  visiting  with  the 
tenor.  No  man  can  capture  a  crowd  who  is 
not  mentally  alert  and  aware  of  every  move¬ 
ment  within  his  congregation.  No  man  can 
maintain  mastery  over  an  audience  who  is  not 
willing  to  spend  his  nervous  energy  prodigally, 
for  the  cost  of  leadership  is  excessive. 

In  order  to  get  control  of  the  audience  the 
preacher  must  first  get  attention.  For  this 
reason  it  is  well  to  keep  out  of  view  of  the 
audience  until  the  service  opens.  His  entrance 
is  then  in  the  nature  of  a  surprise  and  has 
greater  attention  value.  If  he  has  varied  his 
personal  appearance  by  a  change  of  garments 
since  the  morning  service,  this  attention  value 


70 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


is  increased.  As  lie  enters  the  pulpit  lie  must 
carry  the  air  of  assurance — he  must  give  the 
impression  that  he  knows  exactly  what  he  is 
going  to  do.  If  he  ever  seems  in  doubt,  the 
crowd  will  refuse  to  follow  him.  If  the 
preacher  cannot  be  sure  of  himself,  how  can 
he  expect  the  crowd  to  trust  him?  For  this 
reason  the  most  informal  service  requires  the 
most  careful  planning  that  the  leader  may  be 
ready  for  any  emergency. 

Crowds  tend  to  act  as  units.  Every  man  has 
a  horror  of  being  made  conspicuous.  Even 
small  boys  will  not  enter  a  free  entertainment 
until  some  lad  has  been  found  who  is  willing 
to  “lead  off.”  Therefore  in  calling  for  volun¬ 
teer  prayers  and  other  participations  in  the 
service  it  will  help  greatly  if  some  one  has 
been  coached  to  “break  the  ice.”  Much  spon¬ 
taneity  can  be  planned.  There  is  a  strategic 
value  in  the  fact  that  crowds  act  as  units.  It 
is  easier  to  bring  individual  wills  under  con¬ 
trol.  If  a  man  submits  to  the  leadership  of 
the  preacher  and  his  first  submission  results 
in  some  pleasant  experience,  he  will  enter 
more  readily  into  other  suggestions  which  in¬ 
volve  a  personal  decision.  Therefore  the  first 
mass  action  that  is  asked  for  should  be 
planned  to  bring  some  pleasure  to  the  audi¬ 
ence.  No  action  should  be  asked  for  in  the 


DOING  AS  THE  ROMANS  DO 


71 


early  part  of  the  service  which  is  liable  to 
bring  any  embarrassment  to  any  individual. 
A  smile,  a  compliment,  or  a  word  of  encourage¬ 
ment  to  reward  the  congregation  for  its  first 
obedience  to  the  leader’s  suggestion  will  pro- 


Cheerful  services  with  heart  warming  Pinging  and  a  genuine 
welcome  St  Paul  Methodist  Church,  Ashland  and  Harrison. 

Two  Big  Services,  Sunday.  March  25th,  10  45  a.  m..  Cha6.  L. 

Stelzle.  former  pastor  of  Labor  Temple,  New  York  .  7  :46  p  m  , 

Lynn  Harold  Hough,  formerly  of  Baltimore  and  Brooklyn-a 
truly  remarkable  speaker  Both  men  have  lectured  from  coast 
.  to  coast  Male  quartet,  cornetist,  big  chorus  choir,  thrilling 
singing  by  the  big  crowds  Here’s  a  help  to  happiness1 

400  SEATS  -  ALL  FREE  OF  COURSE 


At  the  bottom  of  this  handbill  a  blank  page  appeared 
upon  which  this  line  was  printed:  “I  hereby  certify  that  I 
have  read  the  above  announcement.”  A  prize  of  one  dollar 
was  given  to  the  boy  and  another  to  the  girl  who  secured 
the  largest  number  of  signatures.  Thousands  of  names  and 
addresses  appeared  on  the  returned  sheets,  and  a  packed 
house  greeted  the  preacher  for  weeks  afterward. 


duce  this  pleasant  reaction.  A  witticism,  if 
it  is  real  wit,  has  great  value  at  this  point,  for 
a  distinct  gain  lias  been  made  when  the  audi¬ 
ence  is  made  to  smile  back  at  the  preacher. 
But  there  is  great  danger  in  laughter.  The 
first  few  minutes  do  much  in  determining  the 
character  of  the  whole  evening,  and  an  early 


72 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


laugh  is  apt  to  produce  a  service  that  is  shal¬ 
low. 

A  crowd  thinks  on  the  level  of  its  most  un¬ 
thinking  element.  Psychologists  have  esti¬ 
mated  that  the  average  American  audience  has 
a  “sixth  grade  mind.”  A  sermon  born  of  books 
is  inclined  to  be  over  the  heads  of  the  people. 
But  all  people,  learned  and  unschooled,  have 
the  same  elemental  emotions.  An  appeal  to 
these  emotions  will  be  understood  and  enjoyed 
by  all.  The  whole  question  of  emotional  ap¬ 
peal  will  be  discussed  in  a  later  chapter,  but 
it  may  be  said  here  that  all  the  upheavals  in 
life  are  the  result  of  great  surging  emotions. 
Reason  and  logic  pave  the  way,  but  emotions 
move  most  men  to  decision.  The  average  man 
knows  better  than  he  does.  He  seldom  needs 
convincing.  Stirring  liis  emotions  is  usually 
a  short-cut  to  action. 

If  a  preacher  has  been  able  to  present  one 
idea  to  an  audience,  he  has  done  a  superb 
piece  of  work.  Too  many  times  the  service 
scatters.  The  music  presents  one  idea,  the  ser¬ 
mon  another,  and  special  features  present  an¬ 
other.  The  most  effective  service  is  one  which 
hammers  at  one  idea  until  it  is  driven  deep 
into  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Every  carefully 
arranged  detail  of  the  service  should  con¬ 
tribute  to  this  end — sermon,  music,  decora- 


DOING  AS  THE  ROMANS  DO  73 


tions,  ushers,  musical  features,  souvenirs, 
printed  programs,  etc. 

One  of  the  simplest  principles  of  crowd 
psychology  is  the  fact  that  crowds  bring 
crowds.  A  preacher  who  can  get  a  crowd  a 
few  times  will  find  it  is  like  a  schoolboy’s 
snowball — it  will  keep  growing  so  long  as  he 
keeps  pushing.  The  news  that  people  were 
turned  away  for  lack  of  room  is  one  of  the  best 
advertisements  a  church  can  have.  People 
like  to  do  the  popular  thing.  Many  will  stay 
away  from  an  empty  church  who  will  hurry 
to  get  into  a  crowded  one.  They  will  cross  a 
city  to  sit  with  a  crowd  when  they  will  not 
cross  the  street  to  sit  alone.  This  tendency 
can  be  utilized  in  our  advertising  by  employ¬ 
ing  such  phrases  as  “You’ll  have  to  come 
early/7  “Try  to  get  in,”  “We’ve  been  turning 
’em  away/7  “Crowds/7  “Warning,  we  can’t 
hold  the  back  seats/7  “Come  early  if  you  want 
a  back  seat.”  One  church  listed  its  seats  as 
follows  :  “600  best  seats,  350  second  best  in 
Sunday  School  Annex,  250  gallery  seats,  200 
can  stand  up.  Come  and  take  what’s  left.77 

Even  though  a  big  crowd  is  expected  it  is 
well  to  let  the  people  see  the  partitions  rise, 
the  chairs  carried  in,  and  other  expedients  put 
into  use.  It  is  better  to  run  the  risk  of  disturb¬ 
ing  a  service  than  to  chill  a  service  with  the 


74 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


sight  of  several  hundred  unoccupied  seats.  It 
has  a  fine  effect  upon  a  crowd  to  see  late 
comers  hunting  for  accommodations. 

Every  man  is  loyal  to  some  crowd.  It  may 
be  his  lodge,  his  fellow  craftsmen,  or  some 
organization  to  which  his  family  belongs.  If 
“his  crowd”  is  going  to  church,  he  will  go 
whether  he  has  a  personal  interest  or  not. 
This  is  an  exceptionally  valuable  method  of 
capturing  crowds.  Invitations  extended  to 
organized  groups  are  usually  accepted  with 
real  enthusiasm.  Thousands  of  people  can  be 
reached  by  such  a  plan,  carefully  operated 
through  an  entire  winter.  A  patient  study  of 
the  locality  and  friendly  approaches  to  the 
various  groups  will  bring  the  appeal  of  the 
church  to  every  unchurched  man  in  the  com¬ 
munity  within  a  comparatively  short  space  of 
time. 


CHAPTER  VII 


OLD  WINE  IN  NEW  BOTTLES 

Men  are  said  to  avoid  the  church  because  of 
the  emotionalism  which  the  church  has  empha¬ 
sized,  but  they  avoid  emotionalism  nowhere 
else.  The  government  war  loans  were  carried 
through  on  a  tide  of  emotionalism  never  ap¬ 
proximated  even  in  a  Billy  Sunday  revival. 
The  “demonstrations”  staged  at  political  con¬ 
ventions  outrival  anything  ever  seen  at  a  reli¬ 
gious  gathering.  Emotionalism  does  not 
arouse  resentment  unless  the  appeal  is  clumsy 
and  threadbare. 

The  New  Testament  reveals  the  fact  that 
Jesus  made  constant  appeal  to  the  emotions. 
He  seldom  indulged  in  arguments.  He  under¬ 
stood  the  full  orchestration  of  the  human  soul 
and  played  upon  emotions  with  the  skill  of  a 
master,  but  he  was  never  sentimental.  He 
shed  tears,  but  he  did  not  parade  his  grief ;  he 
never  indulged  in  emotional  excess  in  order  to 
sway  his  audience;  he  was  sympathetic,  but 
never  mawkish;  he  was  touched  by  our  in- 
lirmities,  but  never  stooped  to  affectation. 

75 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


The  church  lias  always  used  the  emotional 
appeal.  Stained-glass  windows,  sweet-toned 
organs,  chants,  responses,  dimly  lighted  sanc¬ 
tuaries,  burning  tapers  are  all  a  subtle  appeal 
to  the  emotions.  Music  is  a  common  appeal 
— very  few  arguments  were  set  to  music.  A 
certain  iron  mine  in  upper  Michigan  was 
said  to  be  worked  out,  but  a  young  engineer 
dug  through  a  few  feet  of  rock  and  uncovered 
vast  deposits  of  ore  untouched.  The  resource¬ 
ful  minister  by  studying  the  devices  used  by 
amusement  houses  will  discover  a  new  field  of 
powerful  emotional  appeal  which  can  be  ap¬ 
propriated  by  the  pulpit  with  perfect  pro¬ 
priety  and  powerful  effect. 

The  psychologist  asserts  that  attention  goes 
in  waves.  An  unvaried  appeal  loses  its  effec¬ 
tiveness  as  it  becomes  familiar  and  stereo¬ 
typed.  If  the  church  can  be  provided  with  a 
wider  variety  of  devices  through  which  to 
make  her  appeal,  she  has  gained  immeasur¬ 
ably.  Most  church  services  have  aimed  to  pro¬ 
duce  the  spirit  of  reverence  and  awe.  Too 
often  they  have  produced  only  soberness,  arti¬ 
ficiality,  or  fatigue.  Eagerness,  enthusiasm, 
joy,  and  light  heartedness  are  also  religious 
and  should  be  encouraged.  To  produce  reli¬ 
gious  moods  we  find  at  least  six  devices  in  use 
by  purveyors  of  amusement  which  can  be  con- 


OLD  WINE  IN  NEW  BOTTLES  77 


secrated  to  religious  purposes:  music,  lights, 
color,  action,  surprise,  and  atmosphere. 

Music  as  an  appeal  to  the  emotions  has  been 
in  use  for  centuries,  but  there  are  broad  oppor¬ 
tunities  in  the  world  of  music  that  have  never 
been  utilized  by  the  church.  A  few  years  ago 
a  violent  storm  of  controversy  raged  about  the 
violin,  but  this  brilliant  instrument  lias  been 
“converted’’  and  is  now  a  recognized  con¬ 
tributor  to  religious  worship.  Other  musical 
instruments  are  clamoring  for  an  opportunity 
to  serve  the  church. 

A  young  accordion  player  of  rare  ability 
was  invited  to  play  one  Sunday  evening  and 
delighted  liis  audience  with  Handel’s  “Largo,” 
“The  Holy  City,”  and  other  familiar  sacred 
numbers.  At  the  close  of  the  service  he  con¬ 
fessed  that  it  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever 
been  invited  to  play  in  a  church,  though  he 
was  a  member  of  an  aggressive  church  of  an 
evangelical  denomination.  A  group  of  Chi¬ 
cago  young  people  in  a  rooming  house  district 
was  deeply  moved  as  a  beautiful  woman 


The  following  is  a  sample  of  “reason  why” 
copy,  showing  the  inside  pages  of  a  four-page 
folder  distributed  previous  to  the  Easter  evan¬ 
gelistic  campaign. 


a 

In  the  Interest  of  Your 
Better  Self  = 


IT’S  THE  ONLY  WAY  OUT— 

If  every  man  would  play  square  with  every 
other  man,  we  would  have  few  troubles  in  this 
world.  But  life  never  seemed  so  mixed  up, 
and  it  often  seems  hard  to  know  what  the 
square  thing  is. 

Gradually  the  world  is  coming  to  see  that 
the  teachings  of  Jesus  point  the  way.  While 
wise  men  worry  about  a  “cure,”  the  simple 
teachings  of  Jesus  hold  the  solution. 

BUT  IT’S  EVERY  MAN’S  PROBLEM— 

Christianity  aims  to  set  men  right  with  each 
other  by  setting  them  right  with  God  Himself. 
A  social  problem  is  the  problem  of  many  men 
with  wrong  ideals.  The  cure  is  in  changing 
their  ideals.  Christianity  holds  up  Christ  as 
the  perfect  ideal,  adaptable  to  all  men’s  needs. 

IT’S  A  PERSONAL  PROBLEM— 

The  individual  man  must  measure  himself 
according  to  God’s  standards.  Therefore 
Simpson  Church  announces  a  series  of  personal 
discussions  during  the  two  weeks  preceding 
Easter  Sunday.  There’s  help  for  YOU  in  the 
subjects  announced  on  the  next  page. 


Invest  a  few  nights  in  your  better  self — in 
your  soul’s  development.  Take  time  to  study 
your  relations  with  God.  You’ll  find  the 
heart-warming  singing,  the  special  music,  and 
the  straightforward  preaching  a  wonderful 
help  in  the  solution  of  your  problems.  Bring 
your  neighbor  with  you. 


Come  the  FIRST  night. 

SIMPSON  METHODIST  CHURCH 

28th  St.  and  First  Ave.  S. 

Services  open  at  8  P.  M. 


Serious  Themes  for 
Serious  Folk 

Sunday,  March  21st. 

Morning.  “THE  MARKS  OF  A  CHRISTIAN.’’ 

Evening.  Bishop  Charles  Bayard  Mitchell  will  preach. 

Monday,  March  22nd. 

“THE  SLOWNESS  OF  GOD.” 

Tuesday,  March  23rd. 

“A  TURN  TO  THE  RIGHT.” 

Wednesday,  March  24th. 

“THE  LEPROSY  OF  SIN.” 

Thursday,  March  25th. 

“WARMING  AT  A  COLD  FIRE.” 

Friday,  March  26th. 

“COUNTERFEIT  CHRISTIANITY.” 

Sunday,  March  28th — PALM  SUNDAY. 

Morning.  “THE  MAN  WHO  COULD  NOT  BE 
TEMPTED.” 

Evening.  “WHEN  A  STRONG  MAN  FAILED.” 

Monday,  March  29th. 

“THE  PATIENCE  OF  GOD.” 

Tuesday,  March  30th. 

“A  GOD  OF  MIGHT  OR  A  MIGHTY  GOD.” 

Wednesday,  March  31st. 

“CHRIST— THE  OPEN  DOOR.” 

Thursday,  April  1st. 

“A  MAN  WHO  PLAYED  THE  FOOL.” 

Friday,  April  2nd — GOOD  FRIDAY. 

“A  MIGHTY  GOD  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  MEN.” 

Sunday,  April  4th — EASTER  SUNDAY. 

Morning.  “THE  FAILURE  OF  DEATH.” 

Evening.  “THE  ROAD  TO  EMMAUS.” 

The  Chorus  Choir  will  render  “The  Story  of  the  Cross”  in 
connection  with  the  evening  service.  Dr.  D.  D.  Rider, 
directing. 

SI  MPSON  CHURCH 
28th  St.  and  First  Ave.  S. 


80 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


whistled  imitations  of  birds  and  insects.  A 
trumpet  quartet  swept  an  audience  into  en¬ 
thusiastic  applause  with  “Praise  Ye  The 
Father/’  while  a  xylophone  soloist  captivated 
a  Sunday-evening  audience  with  MacDowell's 
“To  a  Wild  Rose.” 

The  modern  theater  would  be  helpless  with¬ 
out  lights.  The  exteriors  are  brilliantly  il¬ 
luminated,  and  during  the  progress  of  the 
play  every  device  of  modern  electric  lighting 
is  used.  Many  commonplace  scenes  have  been 
made  positively  thrilling  by  some  ingenious 
use  of  light.  A  brilliantly  lighted  entrance  is 
good  advertising,  suggesting  cheerfulness, 
merriment,  and  activity,  all  of  which  makes  a 
powerful  appeal  to  the  man  wearied  with 
monotony  or  the  youth  in  search  of  adventure. 
Few  churches  are  equipped  to  illuminate  for 
dramatic  effects,  but  simple  manipulations 
can  be  used  to  great  advantage. 

Color  is  an  emotional  aid  of  which  the 
church  has  made  comparatively  little  use, 
though  it  plays  a  great  part  upon  the  stage. 
Decorations  provide  the  best  medium  for  the 
use  of  color,  but  colored  lights  and  costumes 
can  be  used  on  some  occasions.  Color  has  high 
suggestive  value  and  is  capable  of  wide  appli¬ 
cation.  Purple  suggests  royalty,  wealth, 
nobility.  Blue  suggests  night,  cold,  mystery, 


OLD  WINE  IN  NEW  BOTTLES  81 

fear.  Bed  suggests  sunsets,  warmth,  hearth¬ 
stones,  cheeriness.  Green  suggests  summer 
and  also  coldness  as  well  as  jealousy,  intrigue, 
malice,  envy.  White  suggests  purity,  frank¬ 
ness  and  fearlessness. 

Nothing  spells  defeat  like  inaction.  An 
audience  entering  a  theater  finds  the  house 
dimly  lighted.  When  the  hour  for  opening 
arrives  the  lights  begin  to  go  on,  here  and 
there,  the  orchestra  tunes  up,  the  footlights 
are  turned  on,  the  overture  begins,  and  when 
the  actors  enter,  the  audience  is  in  a  state  of 
high  expectancy.  From  that  moment  on  there 
are  no  waits  or  delays.  Consider,  in  compari¬ 
son,  the  artlessness  with  which  many  a  church 
service  begins.  The  organist  may  or  may  not 
have  played  a  voluntary  when  the  preacher 
suddenly  appears  in  the  pulpit,  perhaps  com¬ 
ing  out  of  the  audience,  turns  to  consult  the 
organist  about  the  first  hymn,  and,  amid  the 
buzzing  of  conversation,  the  service  opens 
more  as  a  rude  interruption  to  a  happy  visit 
than  as  the  initial  chord  of  a  great  symphony 
of  worship.  Ushers  interrupt  the  service  to 
bring  announcements  to  the  minister,  col¬ 
lectors  are  gathered  at  the  last  minute, 
whispered  conferences  between  the  preacher 
and  the  choirmaster  settle  the  question  of 
when  special  music  is  to  be  used,  and  the  entire 


82 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


service  seems  to  be  arranged  as  it  proceeds. 
If  it  arrives  anywhere,  it  is  a  fortunate  acci¬ 
dent  for  which  no  one  planned  and  for  which 
no  one  is  entitled  to  any  credit. 

The  object  of  action  is  to  produce  an  atti¬ 
tude  of  alertness,  and  alertness  is  another 
name  for  interest.  No  one  contributes  more 
at  this  point  than  the  leader  himself.  A  brisk 
step,  decisive  tone  of  voice,  readiness  in  detail 
— all  betoken  the  eager  leader  and  eagerness  on 
the  part  of  the  leader  means  eagerness  on  the 
part  of  the  audience.  The  morning  audience 
can  be  sedate  and  dignified,  but  the  evening 
service,  if  it  is  to  appeal  to  the  multitude,  must 
be  vivacious  and  spirited. 

Nothing  requires  more  careful  study  than 
the  element  of  surprise.  The  unusual  secures 
and  holds  attention.  If  an  audience  does  not 
know  exactly  what  to  expect,  its  attention  is 
all  the  closer,  with  the  result  that  impressions 
are  deeper.  For  this  reason  it  is  the  habit  of 
many  successful  men  to  print  no  program  for 
their  evening  service. 

The  artist  is  fond  of  “atmosphere,”  by  which 
he  means  an  appropriate  setting  for  his  pic¬ 
ture.  All  of  us  are  strangely  susceptible  to 
the  “eternal  fitness  of  things.”  Theaters  take 
great  pains  to  give  their  performances  the  cor¬ 
rect  setting,  that  the  proper  “state  of  mind” 


OLD  WINE  IN  NEW  BOTTLES  83 


may  be  produced  in  the  audience.  The  ushers 
are  dressed  in  harmony  with  the  theme,  the 
music  is  chosen  with  great  care,  entrances  are 
decorated  appropriately,  and  the  audience 
begins  to  experience  the  picture  before  it 
begins.  The  church  does  not  need  to  be  theat¬ 
rical  to  make  use  of  “atmosphere.”  A  home- 
missionary  service  was  helped  by  having  the 
young  women  who  collected  the  offering 
dressed  as  mountain  girls.  In  a  Gideon  serv¬ 
ice  one  night  the  collection  was  taken  in  white 
pitchers,  the  clinking  of  the  money  and  the 
appearance  of  the  pitchers  having  the  effect 
of  greatly  increasing  the  offering.  A  Chil¬ 
dren’s- Day  collection  was  swelled  to  the  record 
mark  by  having  a  student’s  desk,  with  dic¬ 
tionary,  books  and  lamp  on  the  platform  and 
appealing  for  funds  to  put  a  young  man  at 
the  desk  for  the  entire  year. 

We  must  constantly  think  of  the  audience 
first,  for  the  spirit  of  the  audience  is  certain 
to  reflect  the  spirit  of  the  leader.  A  veteran 
lecturer  once  said:  “I  never  allow  my  audi¬ 
ence  to  think  I  am  suffering  with  the  heat.  If 
I  seem  to  be  uncomfortable,  they  are  sure  to 
be.”  The  minister  who  constantly  mops  his 
brow  will  soon  warm  up  the  coldest  audience, 
but  nothing  will  be  gained. 

The  question  of  dignity  and  sensationalism 


84 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


is  easily  solved.  If  any  device  is  being  used 
for  its  own  sake,  the  effect  on  the  preacher 
is  the  most  marked.  He  will  raise  questions 
as  to  its  fitness  in  his  own  mind  which  will 
soon  be  felt  by  the  audience.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  is  tired  with  a  passion  to  present  his 
message  and  has  prayed  over  his  service  until 
he  is  convinced  that  every  element  in  it  is  dedi¬ 
cated  to  the  great  purpose  of  the  meeting,  he 
will  speak  with  an  assurance  that  will  allay 
all  doubts  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  The 
final  question  upon  which  all  decisions  as  to 
fitness  or  unfitness  must  hang  is  a  very  simple 
one — “What  is  the  chief  aim  in  this  service 
and  how  will  these  devices  promote  that 
object f” 

In  the  following  chapters  will  be  found  the 
description  of  certain  services  which  illustrate 
the  principles  that  have  been  discussed  in  the 
foregoing  chapters.  They  are  offered,  not 
with  the  thought  that  they  are  to  be  imitated, 
for  no  man  can  use  the  plans  of  another  suc¬ 
cessfully  without  careful  revision.  But  the 
combinations,  effects,  and  wide  range  of  de¬ 
vices  employed  may  stimulate  other  men  to 
utilize  what  is  at  hand  to  capture  crowds  for 
their  own  message.  The  question  of  expense 
will  probably  be  raised  by  the  reader  but  some 
suggestions  will  be  found  in  a  later  chapter 


OLD  WINE  IN  NEW  BOTTLES  85 


which  will  assist  in  providing  the  necessary 
funds. 

The  preacher  who  seriously  sets  out  to  cap¬ 
ture  crowds  finds  that  he  grows  with  his  con¬ 
gregations.  As  he  studies  the  multitudes  to 
discover  an  effective  appeal  he  will  learn  their 
language,  their  problems,  and  their  possibili¬ 
ties.  As  he  makes  compelling  announcements 
he  will  be  driven  to  make  elaborate  prepara¬ 
tion  for  his  message,  that  he  may  keep  faith 
with  his  advertising.  As  he  uses  new  devices 
to  enforce  his  message  he  will  discover  spir¬ 
itual  possibilities  hitherto  unrecognized.  As 
he  prays  over  his  service  he  will  find  a  new 
evangelistic  passion  springing  up  in  his  own 
soul.  More  than  one  man  has  found  that  this 
type  of  preaching  has  not  only  saved  the  Sun¬ 
day-evening  service — it  has  saved  the  preacher 
as  well. 


PAET  TWO 


CHAPTER  VIII 


PRAISE  YE  THE  FATHER 

It  has  been  said  that  a  man  can  smile  in 
any  language.  It  is  also  true  that  he  can  sing 
in  any  language.  Music  is  a  universal  appeal 
that  fits  all  hearts  and  lips.  Men  who  do  not 
agree  with  our  theology  can  join  happily  in 
singing  our  songs. 

Every  agency  which  appeals  to  the  public 
for  patronage  makes  some  use  of  music.  Some 
churches  have  spent  considerable  sums  of 
money  in  an  effort  to  secure  the  very  best  in 
music,  but  the  meager  audiences  are  dis¬ 
couraging  to  all  participants  in  the  service. 
Investment  of  more  money  is  not  the  solution 
of  the  problem.  Indeed,  it  is  a  serious  ques¬ 
tion  whether  much  has  been  gained  when  a 
Sunday-evening  audience  has  been  built  upon 
the  fact  that  people  can  hear  the  highest  grade 
music  without  paying  an  admission  price.  If 
the  Sunday-evening  service  is  an  occasion  for 
worship,  the  artistry  of  the  music  must  con¬ 
tribute  to,  and  not  usurp  the  place  of  worship. 

The  music  with  which  the  average  man  is 

89 


90 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


familiar  is  not  usually  the  most  artistic.  In 
appealing  to  the  crowds  for  a  Sunday-evening 
audience  some  account  must  be  taken  of  this 
fact.  The  common  people  want  singable 
tunes,  words  with  heart-appeal,  and  melodies 
that  “bite  into  the  memory.”  The  best  song 
service  is  not  necessarily  the  one  in  which  the 
people  have  sung  lustily,  but  is  one  in  which 
the  most  people  have  sung  with  the  most  feel¬ 
ing.  There  is  nothing  better  for  such  sing¬ 
ing  than  some  of  the  old  standard  hymns 
which  have  been  born  of  great  common  experi¬ 
ences  like  loneliness,  heartache,  trouble, 
despair,  conviction,  aspiration,  etc.  Nothing 
helps  the  congregational  singing  like  the 
leadership  of  a  small  group  of  instruments. 
Such  an  orchestra  does  not  need  to  rehearse 
the  hymns  and  can  be  assembled  with  com¬ 
parative  ease. 

No  song  service  can  be  expected  to  run  it¬ 
self  ;  it  requires  as  careful  study  and  planning 
as  the  sermon.  Underneath  every  musical 
service  which  makes  a  popular  appeal  lie  three 

important  facts:  (1)  Men  like  to  sing.  (2) 

_  • 

They  sing  best  what  they  know  best.  (3 )  They 
want  some  part  in  the  choice  of  what  they 
shall  sing. 

Every  man  likes  to  do  his  own  singing.  The 
few  exceptions  only  prove  this  rule.  Men  who 


PRAISE  YE  THE  FATHER 


91 


tremble  in  terror  at  the  thought  of  singing 
alone  will  utterly  lose  themselves  in  song  when 
singing  with  a  crowd.  No  amount  of  special 
music  can  take  the  place  of  spirited  singing 
on  the  part  of  the  congregation  itself.  Ex- 
pressional  opportunities  are  too  scarce  in  the 
average  service  to  make  limited  use  of  the 
singing  of  the  people. 

People  like  to  sing  songs  which  they  know 
so  well  that  they  do  not  need  to  refer  to  the 
printed  page.  But  most  men  do  not  hear 
church  music  frequently  enough  to  fix  it  in 
their  memory.  No  enthusiastic  singing  can  be 
developed  in  a  congregation  until  there  is  some 
familiarity  with  the  words  and  music.  It  is 
better,  therefore,  to  use  fewer  hymns  and  burn 
these  into  the  memory  of  the  people  than  to 
try  to  familiarize  them  with  a  large  number 
of  tunes.  Not  more  than  one  “new”  song 
should  be  introduced  in  one  evening  if  it  can 
be  avoided.  Music  teachers  insist  upon  an 
uplifted  chin  as  an  essential  for  good  sing¬ 
ing.  No  audience  can  sing  with  eyes  glued  to 
the  page.  Stereopticon  slides  or  any  other  de¬ 
vice  that  will  help  them  to  memorize  the  words 
and  sing  with  uplifted  heads  are  great  aids. 

A  combination  of  light,  color,  and  music  is 
to  be  found  in  illustrated  songs.  Many  of  the 
mission  boards  are  ready  to  supply  slides  for 


92 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


familiar  hymns  which  are  high  grade  in  every 
respect.  The  writer  secured  five  photographs 
of  his  own  church,  using  one  for  each  verse  of 
the  hymn,  “I  Love  Thy  Church,  O  God.”  The 
people  enjoyed  this  hymn  particularly.  Eight 
beautiful  photographs  of  scenes  about  Min¬ 
neapolis  were  secured  through  one  of  the  news¬ 
papers  and  two  were  used  to  illustrate  each 
verse  of  “ America.”  The  local  interest  gave 
these  slides  double  value.  Two  or  three  such 
hymns  purchased  each  winter  will  soon  give 
any  church  a  good  library  which  can  be  used 
for  many  occasions  other  than  the  services  of 
worship.  Reading  the  words  from  the  screen 
and  watching  the  pictures  helps  to  fix  such 
hymns  in  their  minds.  The  children  of  the 
Sunday  school  have  memorized  some  of  the 
best  of  our  old  hymns  in  this  easy  fashion. 
Using  an  illustrated  hymn  each  Sunday  eve¬ 
ning  for  a  period  of  weeks  becomes  quite  a 
feature  and  is  anticipated  by  the  people. 

People  enjoy  a  song  service  in  which  they 
have  the  opportunity  to  choose  the  hymns. 
The  “community  song  leader”  with  his  “song 
sheet”  is  deluged  with  requests  when  time 
comes  to  choose  the  next  number.  The  leader 
of  the  church  song  service  can  use  his  hymn 
book  in  the  same  way  and  soon  find  the 
favorites  of  the  crowd.  It  has  frequently  been 


PRAISE  YE  THE  FATHER 


93 


asserted  that  the  so-called  “evangelistic  songs’’ 
serve  the  interests  of  such  a  service  best,  but 
experience  has  shown  that  an  audience  will 
enter  into  the  singing  of  the  noble  old  hymns 
of  Christian  experience  with  as  much  zest  as 
the  popular  airs.  The  test  of  such  singing  is 
not  its  boisterousness  but  its  heartfulness. 
Once  these  great  hymns  have  been  stamped  on 
the  memory  of  the  people  they  become  a  daily 
bulwark  of  strength  against  temptation  and 
despair. 

One  of  the  mistakes  made  by  too  many 
churches  is  the  “sin  of  monotony.”  We  have 
used  the  organ,  piano,  chorus,  the  quartet  with 
excellent  effect,  sometimes  adding  a  violin, 
but  there  is  a  world  of  music  which  has  never 
served  the  purposes  of  worship.  There  are 
scores  of  sweet-toned  instruments  which  are 
ready  to  serve  the  church  and  the  hour  of  wor¬ 
ship.  The  flute,  clarionet,  trumpet,  trombone, 
mandolin,  bells,  guitar,  French  horn,  ’cello, 
and  even  the  rowdy  saxophone  are  capable  of 
beautiful  tones  which  can  add  greatly  to  a 
service.  An  old-fashioned  accordion,  in  the 
hands  of  skillful  musician,  worked  wonders 
with  one  Sunday-evening  audience  as  the 
“Hallelujah  Chorus”  and  “Onward,  Christian 
Soldiers !”  came  pealing  from  its  bellows. 

Amateur  bands  and  orchestras  are  organ- 


94 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


ized  in  almost  every  community  and  will 
usually  give  tlieir  services  without  charge. 
No  audience  will  ever  sing  “Onward,  Christian 
Soldiers!”  or  “The  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Re¬ 
public”  as  when  led  by  a  band  or  orchestra. 
The  music  in  public  schools  is  such  a  high 
grade  that  children’s  choruses,  liigh-school 
glee  clubs,  quartets,  orchestras  and  mandolin 
clubs  provide  the  best  music  the  community 
offers.  Colleges  and  universities  have  a 
wealth  of  such  material  which  is  usually  at 
the  disposal  of  the  minister  for  occasional 
services  without  cost.  Lyceum  and  Chautau¬ 
qua  companies  are  frequently  willing  to  give 
assistance  on  Sunday  evening  in  return  for 
hotel  expenses  over  Sunday. 

These  musical  novelties  have  a  double  value 
— they  lend  interest  to  the  service  and  have 
rare  advertising  value.  Children  who  are 
proficient  on  instruments  are  always  attrac¬ 
tive,  for  the  sweet  winsomeness  of  a  little  child 
will  add  charm  to  any  service.  The  public 
schools  can  furnish  information  as  to  where 
to  find  such  talented  children. 

The  Scotch  are  verv  fond  of  Robert  Burns 
and  usually  celebrate  liis  birthday.  A  “Scotch 
Night”  was  arranged  one  winter  on  the  Sun¬ 
day  evening  nearest  to  the  date  of  his  birth¬ 
day.  Every  Scot  in  the  city  was  invited  to  be 


PRAISE  YE  THE  FATHER 


95 


present.  A  Scotch  entertainer  was  persuaded 
to  lead  the  singing  and  the  old  Scotch  hymns 
were  featured.  A  soprano  and  a  tenor  sang 
Scotch  solos  and  a  band  of  bagpipers  was 
secured  to  play  the  opening  concert,  offertory, 
and  postlude.  They  came  dressed  in  kilts, 
Tam  O’Shanters  and  plaids,  their  gorgeous 
appearance  and  stirring  music  making  an  im¬ 
pression  that  the  people  will  never  forget.  The 
announcement  of  the  “Pipers  Band”  was  suffi¬ 
cient  to  attract  such  a  crowd  that  standing 
room  was  at  a  premium.  The  climax  of  the 
service  came  when  a  Scotchman  read  Burns’ 
“Cotter’s  Saturday  Night”  and  the  pastor 
spoke  on  “Family  Religion.” 

An  effective  accompaniment  for  the  pulpit 
prayer  is  a  combination  of  organ  and  violin. 
An  intercessory  hymn  is  played  very  softly, 
the  violin  being  muted,  during  the  prayer. 
The  sensitive  minister  will  soon  discover  that 
the  phrases  of  his  prayer  are  fitting  into  the 
rhythm  of  the  hymn.  The  music  must  be  so 
faint  as  to  be  scarcely  heard  and  the  prayer 
full  of  tender  appeals  and  suggestions.  Such 
a  combination,  using  the  hymn  “O  Love  That 
Wilt  Not  Let  Me  Go,”  is  exceptionally  good. 
By  closing  with  the  Lord’s  prayer  in  which 
the  congregation  joins,  the  music  ceases  with¬ 
out  breaking  in  the  midst  of  a  phrase. 


96 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


A  quartet  of  stringed  instruments  from  the 
Minneapolis  Symphony  Orchestra  was  secured 
to  assist  in  a  service  of  song.  The  idea  of  the 
service  was  the  blending  of  the  ancient  psalms 
and  the  modern  hymns.  The  fundamental 
religious  emotions  such  as  faith,  joy,  confes¬ 
sion,  humility,  prayer,  etc.,  were  illustrated, 
first  by  a  psalm  and  then  by  a  hymn.  The 
psalm  was  read  with  all  the  emotional  and 
dramatic  expression  possible.  Then  the  simi¬ 
larity  of  the  hymn  and  the  psalm  as  expres¬ 
sions  of  religious  experience  was  explained 
and  the  hymn  was  rendered,  either  by  the 
instruments,  a  vocal  quartet,  soloists  or  by  the 
congregation.  All  hymns  were  chosen  from 
the  church  hymnal  that  the  audience  might 
be  able  to  quickly  find  the  particular  number 
and  follow  the  words  as  they  were  being  sung. 
Inasmuch  as  the  entire  evening  was  given 
over  to  this  service  ample  time  was  available 
to  cover  the  theme. 

The  prelude,  offertory,  and  postlude  were 
rendered  by  the  quartet.  The  psalms,  hymns, 
quartets,  soloists,  choirs,  and  prayers  made  a 
service  which  had  such  marked  religious  value 
as  well  as  artistic  merit  that  the  appeal  was 
almost  irresistible. 

A  most  effective  musical  service  is  one 
known  as  the  “song  sermon.”  The  theme  must 


PRAISE  YE  THE  FATHER 


97 


have  a  wide  appeal  around  which  are  grouped 
familiar  hymns  and  gospel  songs.  The  entire 
evening  is  devoted  to  the  service  and  every 
item  of  the  program  is  blended  so  as  to  give  a 
strong  impression  of  unity.  Such  themes  as 
“Songsi  of  the  Homeland/’  “Songs  for  the 
Tempted/’  “Songs  for  the  Discouraged/’  “One 
More  Day’s  Work  for  Jesus/’  “Songs  for  the 
Blind/’  “The  Patriot’s  Songs/’  “Songs  From 
the  Sanctuary/’  etc.,  have  great  possibilities. 
The  best  idea  of  such  a  service  can  be  gained 
from  a  minute  description  of  two  which  have 
been  used  to  excellent  advantage  on  many 
occasions. 

“Songs  for  the  Lonely”  was  the  theme  and 
inasmuch  as  most  people  have  known  loneli¬ 
ness  at  one  time  or  another  the  announcement 
was  very  attractive.  The  prelude  and  proces¬ 
sional  were  used  in  the  customary  manner, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  invocation  the  pastor 
began  to  speak,  commenting  upon  loneliness 
as  a  common  experience  and  reminding  the 
audience  that  it  did  its  most  deadly  work  in 
the  night  time.  As  he  spoke  a  beautiful  sunset 
was  sketched  in  chalk  on  an  immense  easel 
set  up  on  the  platform,  and  the  audience  was 
asked  to  sing  “Day  is  Dying  in  the  West,” 
while  the  drawing  was  being  completed.  When 
the  hymn  was  finished  he  spoke  of  a  man’s 


98 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


instinctive  hunger  for  mother,  and  began  to 
read 

“Backward,  turn  backward,  0  Time,  in  jmur  flight, 

Make  me  a  child  again,  just  for  to-night !” 

• 

while  the  organist  played  “Come,  Thou  Fount 
of  Every  Blessing/’  as  an  accompaniment. 
There  are  two  ways  through  loneliness — the 
way  of  the  coward  and  the  way  of  courage,  the 
way  of  despair  and  the  way  of  faith.  Illustrat¬ 
ing  this  theme,  a  tenor  sang  “The  Wayside 
Cross,”  while  a  male  quartet  from  a  distant 
room  echoed  the  chorus.  The  audience  was 
then  asked  to  repeat  the  twenty-third  psalm, 
“a  psalm  born  of  loneliness.”  The  scripture 
was  followed  by  a  prayer,  the  evening  an¬ 
nouncements,  and  the  collection.  Then  came 
an  introduction  of  the  idea  that  every  man  is 
a  child  of  God,  and  as  such  need  not  fear  lone¬ 
liness.  “The  Child  of  the  King”  was  sung  by 
a  baritone,  followed  by  “Oh  Then  to  the  Rock 
Let  Me  Fly”  by  the  congregation.  Confidence 
in  loneliness  was  illustrated  by  “Jesus,  Lover 
of  My  Soul,”  sung  as  a  duet.  Instances  of  the 
loneliness  of  Jesus  were  recited  as  the  organ 
and  violin  played,  very  softly,  “The  Rosary.” 
The  strength  of  Jesus  for  lonely  people  was 
expressed  in  the  hymn, 

“  I  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  say, 

Come  unto  me  and  rest/’ 


PRAISE  YE  THE  FATHER 


99 


sung  by  a  trio  of  girls  from  a  distant  gallery. 
Other  men  have  faced  loneliness  and  found  a 
song  therein  as  in  the  case  of  Henley’s  “In- 
victus”  which  was  recited  with  a  musical  ac¬ 
companiment.  As  the  rousing  lines  of  the 
poem  concluded  the  tenor  sang  the  closing 
strains  of  “I  Know  That  My  Redeemer 
Livetli,”  and  with  a  brief  exhortation  to  take 
the  companionship  of  Jesus  as  a  safeguard 
against  loneliness,  the  service  closed  with  the 
hymn  “Go  Forward,  Christian  Soldier,”  sung 
by  the  congregation. 

“My  Mother’s  Songs”  was  first  used  in  con¬ 
nection  with  a  Mother’s  Day  service,  but  is 
appropriate  any  time.  The  service  opened  as 
usual  and  the  theme  was  introduced  by  the 
hymn,  “Love  Divine,  All  Loves  Excelling.” 
Mother  and  love  are  synonymous.  For  one 
hour  the  audience  was  invited  to  go  back  to 
the  scenes  of  childhood  and  study  the  sources 
of  mother’s  love  and  patience.  She  is  seen  first 
reading  her  Bible  in  the  lamplight  and  two 
men  sing  as  a  duet,  “My  Mother’s  Bible,” 
while  a  cartoonist  sketches  an  old  family 
Bible  with  spectacles  atop.  Next  she  is  seen 
on  her  way  to  prayer  meeting,  and  the  audi¬ 
ence  is  asked  to  sing  “Sweet  Hour  of  Prayer.” 
The  church  entered  so  intimately  into  her  life 
and  was  so  much  the  center  of  her  interest  that 


100 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


“The  Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Wildwood” 
sung  by  a  male  quartet  brought  many  tears. 
She  found  in  her  Bible,  her  prayer  life,  and  her 
church,  the  strength  and  cheer  that  sent  her 
singing  all  the  day  such  songs  as  “Beulah 
Land,”  sung  by  the  audience  with  great  spirit. 
Though  mother  was  never  a  conspicuous 
woman,  she  did  the  humble  duties  with  faith¬ 
fulness  like  the  lower  lights  along  the  shore 
and  “Let  the  Lower  Lights  Be  Burning”  was 
sung  by  the  quartet,  illustrated  by  the  artist. 
As  the  years  came  on  mother’s  faith  was  said 
to  be  an  outworn  superstition  and  we 
wandered  away  in  spite  of  her  prayers.  “I 
Have  a  Saviour,  He’s  Pleading  in  Glory,”  sung 
by  the  choir,  represented  her  spirit  and  faith. 
What  man  could  forget?  But  the  story  of 
neglect  is  told  in  the  song,  “Tell  Mother  I’ll 
Be  There,”  sung  by  a  baritone.  The  service 
closed  with  the  congregation  singing,  “Coining 
Home.” 

Such  services  provide  opportunity  for  using 
every  musical  organization  within  the  church, 
thus  securing  the  widest  possible  variety.  On 
the  other  hand  any  pastor  who  has  a  pianist 
and  one  soloist  can  work  out  his  own  program. 
If  some  gifted  young  person  can  be  persuaded 
to  illustrate  the  hymns  with  chalk  drawings 
as  they  are  being  sung,  added  interest  is 


PRAISE  YE  THE  FATHER 


101 


gained.  The  success  of  such  a  service  depends 
upon  two  things  :  (1)  an  assembly  of  hymns, 
poems,  solos,  and  exhortations  all  bearing 
upon  one  idea,  and  (2)  such  careful  team  work 
between  the  preacher  and  the  musicians  that 
there  shall  be  no  break.  A  “cue  sheet,”  indi¬ 
cating  exactly  where  each  feature  is  to  come, 
together  with  the  exact  words  that  introduce 
the  number  is  absolutely  essential.  Such  a 
“cue  sheet”  should  be  in  the  hand  of  each  per¬ 
son  who  participates  in  any  wav.  Outside 
soloists  and  operatic  music  are  not  so  useful 
in  such  a  service  as  home  talent  and  familiar 
gospel  hymns.  The  whole  object  is  to  produce 
a  spiritual  mood  and  not  to  render  an  artistic 
performance. 

Music  can  be  made  to  appeal  to  two  of  the 
strongest  instincts — the  love  of  the  beautiful 
and  the  spirit  of  curiosity.  Mandolin  clubs, 
orchestras,  bands,  glee  clubs,  negro  choirs 
and  soloists,  instrumental  combinations  and 
child  musicians  are  available  in  almost  every 
community.  No  performer  makes  a  finer 
appeal  to  an  audience  than  a  child,  and 
whistlers,  violinists,  pianists,  soloists  and 
readers  are  common  among  children  and  any 
school  teacher  can  help  to  find  them. 
Musicians  of  foreign  birth  have  unusual 
advertising  value,  and  if  their  music  is  accept- 


102 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


able  their  contribution  is  considerable.  Scotch 
singers  and  pipers  can  be  found  frequently. 
College  communities  will  usually  furnish  a 
wealth  of  material.  Representatives  of  the 
Negro  race  appear  to  excellent  advantage  in 
connection  with  Lincoln’s  Birthday  and 
Memorial  Sunday.  Rural  churches  can  use 
Victrolas  with  records  made  by  some  of  the 
famous  Jubilee  Singers.  Trading  choirs  be¬ 
tween  churches  in  the  same  or  neighboring 
towns  adds  interest  to  the  service  and  develops 
an  esprit  de  corps  among  the  singers. 

The  type  of  music  to  be  presented  is  a 
simpler  problem  than  most  men  think.  All 
organizations  have  patriotic  selections  which 
are  acceptable,  and  a  scanning  of  their  reper¬ 
toire  will  reveal  many  serious  numbers  that 
can  be  used  to  excellent  advantage.  The  151st 
Field  Artillery  Band  appeared  in  Simpson 
Church,  Minneapolis,  on  one  occasion  and  used 
concert  numbers  for  a  prelude  and  Tosti’s 
“Good-bye”  for  a  postlude.  Nothing  could 
have  been  more  appropriate.  Many  very  tine 
organizations  can  be  secured  without  expense 
if  assured  that  their  music  is  appropriate. 
When  special  groups  are  invited  to  visit  the 
Sunday-evening  service  additional  advantage 
can  be  gained  by  asking  them  to  supply  some 
musical  number.  These  organizations  fre- 


PRAISE  YE  THE  FATHER  103 


quently  have  bands,  quartets,  glee  clubs,  or¬ 
chestras,  or  soloists  of  real  merit.  If  the 
musical  ability  is  less  than  that  of  profes¬ 
sionals  the  lack  is  fully  compensated  in  addi¬ 
tional  interest  developed  from  the  conscious¬ 
ness  that  the  visitors  are  making  some  contri¬ 
bution  to  the  service.  Workmen  like  to  hear 
their  fellow  workmen  perform  in  such  serv¬ 
ices.  The  musical  ability  of  such  organiza¬ 
tions  is  frequently  surprising.  The  police 
band  of  Minneapolis  is  one  of  the  best  musical 
organizations  the  writer  has  ever  used.  The 
men  came  gladly  and  the  chief  of  police  later 
declared  that  it  was  the  first  time  his  band 
had  ever  been  invited  to  play  in  a  church.  It 
will  help  in  arranging  such  features  if  the 
preacher  will  remember  that  his  first  object  is 
not  to  get  music  but  to  get  folks . 

When  bands  and  orchestras  are  used  they 
can  be  asked  to  furnish  a  brief  opening  con¬ 
cert,  an  offertory,  and  a  postlude.  This  takes 
the  place  of  the  usual  organ  numbers — leav¬ 
ing  room  for  the  anthems  or  other  special 
vocal  numbers  without  using  more  than  the 
usual  amount  of  time. 


CHAPTER  IX 


LET  THERE  BE  LIGHT 

The  superior  values  of  light  have  been  only 
slightly  realized  by  the  church,  though  lodges 
have  used  dimly  lighted  halls,  colored  lights, 
and  electrical  effects  to  great  advantage  in 
their  ceremonials,  and  the  theater  depends 
upon  the  manipulation  of  illumination  for 
some  of  its  most  impressive  effects.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  spend  large  sums  of  money  on 
electrical  equipment  and  a  trained  electrician, 
for  any  liigh-school  boy,  interested  in  elec¬ 
tricity,  will  take  great  delight  in  working  out 
all  necessary  details,  and  full  directions  for 
constructing  the  devices  referred  to  in  this 
chapter  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

Lights  have  a  special  use  in  the  evening  serv¬ 
ice  because  darkness  furnishes  contrast.  A 
spotlight  brings  the  object  under  the  light  into 
sharpest  relief ;  all  attention  is  focused  on  one 
illuminated  spot.  It  is  another  form  of  italics. 
Illuminated  objects,  such  as  stars,  crosses,  pic¬ 
tures,  etc.,  are  burned  into  the  memory,  to¬ 
gether  with  all  words  and  actions  which  ac- 

104 


LET  THERE  BE  LIGHT 


105 


company  the  illumination.  Light  is  one  of 
the  best  attention  arresters  known  to  science. 
So  long  as  the  eye  is  not  pained  it  will  involun¬ 
tarily  turn  to  the  brightest  spot  in  the  range 
of  vision. 

Lights  in  different  colors  and  degrees  of 
intensity  suggest  different  ideas.  The  gradual 
dimming  of  lights  has  the  effect  of  quieting 
an  audience,  producing  awe  and  arousing  ex¬ 
pectancy  until  attention  is  riveted  on  any 
word  or  action  that  accompanies  the  change 
in  illumination.  There  is  little  chance  to  stir 
emotions  or  affect  judgments  until  attention 
has  been  secured.  Gestures,  climaxes,  facial 
expressions,  etc.,  are  efforts  to  secure  atten¬ 
tion,  and  manipulation  of  lights  is  but  an¬ 
other.  It  is  another  form  of  gesturing  and  one 
of  the  most  effective. 

A  plan  that  combines  the  appeal  of  sea¬ 
sonal  interest  and  lights  has  been  used  with 
great  effect  on  the  Sunday  nearest  to  New 
Year’s.  The  advertising  announced  “The 
House  of  a,  Thousand  Candles.”  Handbills, 
pulpit  announcement  and  direct-by-mail  adver¬ 
tising  urged  the  people  to  see  “one  thousand 
lighted  candles.”  Small  Christmas  candles 
were  set  on  the  wainscoting,  door  frames,  altar 
rail,  pulpit,  and  all  accessible  places,  at  inter¬ 
vals  of  about  six  inches.  Larger  candles  were 


106 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


used  over  the  organ,  and  wherever  it  was  nec¬ 
essary  that  they  should  remain  burning 
throughout  the  evening.  People  coining  to 
the  service  were  presented  with  small  tapers  at 
the  door.  The  candles  were  purchased 
through  a  ten-cent  store  at  a  very  low  price 
following  the  Christmas  season. 

The  service  began  and  continued  as  usual 
for  about  ten  minutes.  As  the  passing  of  the 
old  year  was  likened  to  the  burning  out  of  a 
candle,  young  men,  stationed  at  points  of 
vantage,  began  lighting  the  candles  about  the 
room.  When  they  began  to  glow  the  electric 
lights  were  turned  out,  leaving  the  house  il¬ 
luminated  solely  by  candles.  The  choir  sang 
“Send  Out  Thy  Light/’  by  Gounod,  at  the  close 
of  which  the  ushers  came  forward,  each  carry¬ 
ing  an  unliglited  candle.  As  they  grouped 
themselves  before  the  altar  a  light  was  taken 
from  the  pulpit  by  which  they  lighted  their 
candles,  the  pastor’s  comment  emphasizing  the 
value  of  the  “light”  that  proceeds  from  the 
Christian  pulpit.  As  the  choir  sang  the  first 
verse  of  “Lead,  Kindly  Light,”  the  ushers 
passed  the  lighted  candles  to  those  persons  sit¬ 
ting  in  the  ends  of  the  pews,  who,  in  turn, 
passed  the  light  on  to  those  sitting  next  to 
them.  Within  a  few  seconds  the  whole  audi¬ 
torium  was  ablaze  with  light  from  the  little 


LET  THERE  BE  LIGHT 


107 


tapers,  A  thousand  candles  were  used  in  the 
decorations  and  another  thousand  were  burn¬ 
ing  in  the  hands  of  the  audience. 

When  the  tapers  were  lighted  the  audience 
was  asked  to  stand,  thus  avoiding  any  danger 
of  melted  wax  dropping  on  clothing.  The 
song  service  used  such  songs  as,  “Send  the 
Light,”  “Let  the  Lower  Lights  Be  Burning,” 
etc.  As  a  closing  number  the  audience  was 
asked  to  sing,  “Brighten  the  Corner  Where 
You  Are,”  and  everyone  held  his  candle  aloft 
and  kept  time  with  it  on  the  chorus.  The  beau¬ 
tiful  appearance  of  a  thousand  moving  candles 
must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated.  As  the  song 
closed  the  candles  were  extinguished  and 
prayer  was  offered,  concluding  with  the  Lord’s 
Prayer,  during  which  the  electric  lights  were 
turned  on.  The  candles  about  the  auditorium 
were  extinguished  by  the  young  men  during 
the  offertory  period,  leaving  only  the  lights 
upon  the  altar  and  the  organ.  People  enter 
into  such  a  service  as  into  a  game,  and  when 
a  thousand  people  have  waved  lighted  candles, 
sung  heartily  and  bowed  their  heads  in  prayer 
all  under  the  leadership  of  the  preacher,  their 
hearts  are  pretty  well  opened  to  any  appeal  he 
may  make.  Very  little  suspicion  or  antag¬ 
onism  can  survive  the  service. 

The  “candle-lighting  service”  is  capable  of 


108 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


many  variations.  On  one  occasion  the  lights 
were  all  turned  out,  leaving  the  house  in  abso¬ 
lute  darkness.  From  a  side  room  there  came 
a  tiny  child  bearing  a  lighted  candle.  As  he 
approached  the  altar  the  ushers  came  forward 
to  meet  him,  taking  their  lights  from  his 
candle.  This  symbolism  of  the  coming  of  the 
Christ-cliild  with  the  light  of  the  gospel  can 
be  made  very  effective.  On  another  occasion 
the  lights  were  all  extinguished  and  the  “dark¬ 
ness”  of  the  world  into  which  Jesus  came  was 
the  theme  for  an  effective  comment,  in  the 
midst  of  which  a  tiny  girl  appeared,  coming 
from  a  side  gallery  with  a  lighted  candle. 
The  candle,  representing  the  light  of  the  first 
Christian  century,  was  placed  on  a  table  near 
the  pulpit  at  the  foot  of  a  great  cross.  As  the 
pastor  spoke,  briefly  characterizing  the  vari¬ 
ous  centuries,  more  candles  were  brought  to 
the  pulpit  by  children,  each  a  little  larger  than 
the  preceding  child  until  the  twentieth  candle 
was  brought  forward  by  a  full-grown  man,  the 
twenty  candles  forming  a  semicircle  at  the 
base  of  the  cross.  During  the  assembling  of 
the  candles  with  its  accompaniment  of  com¬ 
ment,  the  organist  was  playing  “Faith  of  Our 
Fathers!”  “How  Firm  a  Foundation,”  and 
other  old  hymns  of  faith.  When  the 
twentieth  candle  was  in  place  she  suddenly 


LET  THERE  BE  LIGHT 


109 


broke  into  the  triumphant  strains  of  “In  the 
Cross  of  Christ  I  Glory. v ’  When  the  hymn  was 
well  begun  the  cross  began  to  glow,  first  dimly 
and  then  more  brightly  until  with  the  closing 
of  the  hymn  it  shone  in  glorious  brilliancy. 
The  audience  was  thrilled  beyond  words  to 
describe  and  rose  to  sing  the  song  with  almost 
apostolic  enthusiasm.  This  form  of  symbol¬ 
ism  can  be  used  appropriately  at  any  season 
of  the  year. 

Various  combinations  of  music  aiid  lights 
have  been  used.  During  the  lighting  of  the 
candles  on  one  occasion  a  violin  played  “Just 
a  Song  at  Twilight,”  and  on  another  occasion 
a  tenor  sang  “One  Sweetly  Solemn  Thought.” 
A  little  child  singing  “Lead,  Kindly  Light,” 
moved  an  audience  to  tears.  During  the  pause 
just  before  the  lighting  of  the  candles,  when 
the  lights  are  out,  the  organist  can  play,  “  ’Tis 
Midnight,  and  on  Olives’  Brow”  with  great 
effectiveness.  The  music  for  such  an  occasion 
should  be  very  soft  and  plaintive  with  a  strong 
sentimental  coloring.  The  speaker  should 
avoid  all  nervous  gesturing  or  loud  tones. 
Restraint  must  characterize  every  movement 
of  the  service.  The  assistance  of  a  stereopti- 
con  spotlight  is  valuable  in  the  midst  of  the 
period  when  the  candles  are  lighted.  A  solo¬ 
ist  in  vestments,  singing  in  a  soft  colored  light, 


110 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


either  red  or  blue,  will  be  listened  to  with 
wonderful  attention.  The  song  should  be  the 
simplest  and  most  appealing  it  is  possible  to 
find.  Some  old  hymn  or  gospel  song  is  better 
than  any  classical  number. 

The  candle-lighting  service  has  the  advan¬ 
tage  of  using  a  large  number  of  individuals 
who  become  interested  in  the  service  as  a  re¬ 
sult.  The  novelty,  beauty,  and  seasonal  inter¬ 
est  all  conspire  to  attract  a  crowd.  In  one 
such  service  the  ushers  estimated  that  nearly 
five  hundred  people  kept  their  candle  ends  as 
souvenirs  of  the  service  instead  of  dropping 
them  into  the  collection  plate  as  suggested. 

A  Good-Friday  service  had  been  planned  for 
a  noon  theater  meeting.  Bishop  Charles  Bay¬ 
ard  Mitchell  had  preached  a  winsome  sermon 
on  the  power  of  the  cross  and  retired  to  his 
seat  without  pronouncing  a  benediction. 
With  his  closing  words  the  organist  began 
playing  “There  Is  a  Fountain  Filled  With 
Blood.”  The  ministers  seated  upon  the  stage 
took  up  the  tune,  the  congregation  joining, 
and  as  the  verse  proceeded  the  house  lights  be¬ 
gan  going  out.  When  all  was  dark  curtains 
at  the  back  of  the  stage  were  parted  and  a 
great  cross  appeared,  glowing  first  a  dull  pink 
and  finally  a  brilliant  red  until  it  became  the 
very  color  of  blood.  At  the  close  of  the  second 


LET  THERE  BE  LIGHT 


111 


verse  the  organ  began  playing  the  prelude  for 
“Open  the  Gates  of  the  Temple.’’  Back  in  the 
distance  a  baritone  was  heard  singing,  at  first 
faintly,  but  gradually  coining  nearer.  As  the 
singer’s  words  became  distinct  a  dark  blue 
light  began  to  appear  upon  the  stage  and  as 
the  climax  of  the  song  was  reached  in  the 
words,  “I  Know  that  my  Redeemer  Liveth,” 
the  white  lights  flooded  the  stage,  the  house 
lights  came  back  in  a  blaze  of  beauty,  and  the 
audience  in  a  full  tide  of  religious  fervor  re¬ 
ceived  the  benediction.  They  had  heard  that 
song  many  times,  but  the  dawning  light  sug¬ 
gestive  of  the  resurrection  morning  with  the 
final  climacteric  burst  of  song  had  swept  them 
into  a  religious  mood  which  made  the  song  live 
with  a  new  meaning. 

Roberts  Park  Methodist  Church,  Indian¬ 
apolis,  has  made  a  beautiful  feature  of  “hymns 
with  the  cross.”  The  house  lights  are  all 
turned  out  and  the  choir  sings  a  hymn  with  no 
light  but  the  illuminated  cross.  The  evening 
prayer  follows  the  hymn  and  the  spirit  of 
awe  and  reverence  produced  is  wonderful. 
Colored  lights  in  the  cross  provide  added 
variety  and  fitness  in  some  instances,  such  as 
red  lights  with  “There  Is  a  Fountain  Filled 
With  Blood” ;  blue  lights  with  “  ?Tis  Midnight, 
and  on  Olives’  Brow” ;  green  lights  with  “From 


112 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


Greenland's  Icy  Mountain/’  etc.  Transpar¬ 
encies  can  be  made  up  easily  and  cheaply  with 
the  use  of  celluloid  such  as  is  used  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  automobile  curtains.  The  design  is 
painted  on  the  celluloid  which  is  fastened  oyer 
the  face  of  a  box  in  which  an  electric  light  is 
installed.  Stars,  emblems,  mottoes,  insignia, 
flags,  and  various  other  designs  can  be  used 
very  easily.  The  Gideons  were  visiting  one 
church  and  a  picture  of  the  Gideon  pitcher  had 
been  transferred  to  such  a  transparency  and 
illuminated.  The  emblem  stood  on  a  pedestal 
beside  the  pulpit  and  preached  a  powerful 
lesson  throughout  the  entire  evening.  A  crown 
of  thorns  were  similarly  portrayed  on  another 
occasion  during  a  sermon  on  “The  Crown  of 
Thorns.”  One  advantage  of  such  trans¬ 
parencies  is  their  durability. 

A  simple  plan  which  made  a  very  effective 
feature  can  be  used  by  almost  any  pastor. 
Three  elements  are  necessary :  a  baritone  who 
can  sing  with  real  spirit  and  fire,  a  lantern 
operator,  and  a  stereopticon  slide  whereupon 
are  the  words  “Thou  art  weighed  and  found 
wanting.”  The  sermon  Avas  on  the  story  of  the 
Feast  of  Belshazzar  and  the  Scripture  had 
been  read,  at  the  close  of  which  it  was  an¬ 
nounced  that  the  story  had  been  set  to  music. 
A  baritone  then  be  nan  sinaimr,  “At  the  Feast 


LET  THERE  BE  LIGHT 


113 


of  Belshazzar.”  The  first  verse  was  sung  with 
all  lights  burning.  During  the  second  verse 
the  lights  were  extinguished,  and  with  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  third  verse  the  words  of  the  text 
began  to  appear  in  letters  of  light  on  the 
white  wall  of  the  sanctuary.  A  stereopticon 
had  been  placed  in  a  concealed  spot,  con¬ 
nected  with  the  “dimmer”  and  as  the  singer 
began  the  verse  the  current  was  turned  on, 
first  gently,  then  stronger,  until  the  words 
glowed  upon  the  wall  in  letters  of  fire.  The 
ordinary  slide  uses  black  letters  on  a  white 
background,  but  in  this  case  the  order  was 
reversed  and  the  letters  were  white  with  the 
background  black.  Following  the  song  came 
the  evening  prayer  full  of  tenderness  and 
pleading,  concluding  with  the  Lord’s  Prayer 
to  allow  for  the  returning  of  the  lights. 

The  spotlight  was  used  with  great  effect  in  a 
Lincoln-Day  service.  A  fine  portrait  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  draped  in  a  silk  flag,  stood  beside  the 
pulpit.  Following  the  singing  of  an  old  plan¬ 
tation  spirituelle  by  a  Negro  choir,  the  lights 
went  out  and  in  the  distance  a  girl’s  voice  was 
heard  singing,  “Steal  Away  to  Jesus,”  Sud¬ 
denly  the  spotlight  was  turned  on  a  side  door 
through  which  the  girl  appeared,  entering  the 
pulpit  platform.  She  slowly  approached  the 
portrait  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  spotlight  narrow- 


114 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


in g  to  include  only  her  and  the  picture.  At 
last  she  knelt  before  the  picture  and  kissed  the 
flag,  the  choir  taking  up  her  song.  She  re¬ 
mained  kneeling  for  some  seconds,  then  arose 
quietly  and  retreated  slowly  from  the  area  of 
light  which  continued  to  shine  on  the  picture 
alone.  This  was  followed  by  a  prayer,  but  the 
audience  had  been  moved  as  they  had  seen  the 
Negro’s  love  for  the  flag  and  the  great  Emanci¬ 
pator  so  graphically  portrayed. 

At  the  opening  of  one  service  the  choir  was 
heard  singing  “Holy,  Holy,  Holy”  in  the  dis¬ 
tance.  By  the  close  of  the  first  verse  the  house 
had  gone  into  darkness  and  the  choir  loft  was 
flooded  with  a  dark-blue  light.  The  proces¬ 
sional  began  with  the  second  verse  and  the 
sight  of  the  choir  in  white  vestments  moving 
into  the  blue  light  produced  a  hush  and  a 
reverence  that  pervaded  the  entire  evening. 
During  the  invocation  the  light  was  changed 
to  a  deep  red  and  the  prayer  was  followed  by 
“ Abide  With  Me,”  sung  by  the  choir  in  the 
softest  tones  imaginable.  The  spirit  of  wor¬ 
ship  was  present  in  that  service  from  the  very 
beginning.  An  evening  communion  service  is 
celebrated  each  year  during  passion  week  with 
no  illumination  except  that  of  the  cross.  The 
first  part  of  the  service  consists  of  a  hymn,  a 
prayer,  and  a  short  sermon.  During  the  first 


Simpson  Methodist  Church 

28th  St.  and  Fir*t  Ave.  S. 


EVENINGS  MARCH  21  TO 

,8  O’CLOCK  APRIL  4TH 

Uniformity  in  advertising  has  some  value.  This  drawing 
is  used  in  connection  with  all  Easter  services. 


116 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


ten  minutes  a  few  lights  are  burned  in  the 
rear  of  the  auditorium  to  assist  late  comers 
in  finding  seats.  When  the  time  comes  for 
the  communion  service  the  people  are  invited 
to  come  forward  quietly,  kneel  as  long  as  they 
wish,  confess  their  sins,  partake  of  the  com¬ 
munion  and  retire  from  the  building  or  take 
their  seat  as  may  suit  their  taste.  The  people 
move  with  bated  breath  and  men  who  have 
never  taken  communion  before  will  do  so  with 
tears  streaming  down  their  cheeks  as  they  feel 
the  privacy  of  the  darkness  and  the  solemnity 
of  the  occasion.  The  semidarkness  makes  such 
a  communion  very  personal  in  which  a  man 
forgets  everyone  else  and  faces  God  alone. 

A  building  committee,  desirous  of  arousing 
enthusiasm  for  a  proposed  new  building,  en¬ 
gaged  a  scenic  painter  to  paint  a  large  picture 
of  the  church,  five  by  seven  feet,  which  could 
be  conspicuously  displayed  before  the  people 
several  weeks  before  the  campaign  for  funds 
was  launched.  The  picture  stood  on  a  low 
easel,  banked  with  flowers  and  illuminated 
by  means  of  an  ordinary  desk  lamp  concealed 
among  the  flowers.  In  the  midst  of  a  Sunday 
night  service  all  lights  were  extinguished 
except  the  one  which  illuminated  the  picture 
and  the  pastor  spoke  for  a  few  minutes  on  the 
increased  usefulness  of  the  church  when  such 


LET  THERE  BE  LIGHT 


117 


a  building  should  be  provided.  The  light  was 
turned  on  the  picture  even  during  daylight 
services  and  remained  before  the  people,  with 
great  effect,  for  several  weeks.  Such  a  picture 
must  be  painted  in  water  colors  to  avoid  any 
reflected  glare  of  lights. 

A  railroad  man  asked  for  a  service  for  the 
trainmen  of  the  city,  and  more  than  one  thou¬ 
sand  received  invitations  through  their  union 
officials.  A  railroad  division  superintendent 
furnished  two  great  “target  switches”  which 
were  mounted,  one  on  each  side  of  the  pulpit. 
Several  dozen  switchmen’s  lanterns  of  red, 
green,  and  white,  were  set  about  the  organ, 
pulpit,  and  choir  loft.  High  up  against  the 
pipes  of  the  organ  stood  a  beautiful  white 
cross  which  could  be  illuminated.  The  ser¬ 
mon  subject  was  “Sidetracked”  with  the  text 
from  Isaiah  53.  6.  A  double  male  quartet  of 
blacksmiths  from  a  railroad  shop  sang  several 
selections,  displaying  remarkable  musical 
ability,  a  railroad  man  spoke  for  the  men,  and 
the  choir  rendered  special  music  of  an  appro¬ 
priate  nature.  When  the  pastor  spoke  of  men 
who  had  been  reared  by  Christian  mothers, 
oidy  to  drift  away  in  later  life,  there  were 
many  sober  faces  among  the  five  hundred  rail¬ 
road  men  present.  Suddenly  the  lights  began 
to  go  out,  leaving  only  the  colored  lights  of  the 


118 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


lanterns.  Referring  to  the  “maze  of  conflict¬ 
ing  signals”  before  them  as  significant  of  the 
conflicting  advices  of  socialism,  religions  fads, 
tempters  and  prejudices,  attention  was  di¬ 
rected  to  the  cross  from  which  there  suddenly 
flashed  a  brilliant  white  light.  At  the  foot 
of  the  cross  was  a  white  lantern.  Pointing  to 
it,  the  preacher  said,  “There  at  the  cross  of 
Christ  is  the  light  of  life  for  every  man  if  he 
will  but  take  it.”  He  pressed  the  appeal  with 
all  tenderness  and  earnestness  until  the  men 
were  visibly  moved,  and  when  the  opportunity 
was  given  to  make  decisions  several  came  for¬ 
ward  to  declare  their  purpose  to  lead  new 
lives. 

One  towering  man,  with  his  wife  at  his  side, 
came  to  the  preacher  at  the  close  of  the  serv¬ 
ice  and  said,  “Pastor,  I  haven’t  been  in  church 
for  five  years  before.  I  came  to-night  to  please 
the  boys  and  the  ‘missus.’  But  I’ve  told  the 
little  woman  I’m  goin’  back  with  her  next  Sun¬ 
day,  and  I’ll  be  regular  after  this.”  A  neighbor¬ 
ing  pastor  reported  that  two  railroad  men  had 
come  to  him  to  confer  about  joining  his  church 
with  their  wives.  A  traveling  man  in  a  hotel 
four  hundred  miles  away  heard  some  men  talk¬ 
ing  about  the  service  and  reported  it.  One 
man  said :  “That  preacher  started  something 
with  me.  I  haven’t  prayed  since  I  was  a  kid, 


LET  THERE  BE  LIGHT 


119 


but  I  prayed  that  night  when  I  started  on  my 
run  and  I’ve  prayed  for  him  every  night 
since.”  The  pastor  is  still  getting  results  from 
that  service  three  years  afterward.  When  the 
great  railroad  strike  was  on,  the  men  held  a 
mass  meeting  and  sent  for  the  preacher 
saying,  “Don’t  talk  about  the  strike — preach 
to  us;  we  need  something  better  than  agita¬ 
tion.” 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  CHARM  OF  COLOR 

Color  is  nature’s  favorite  advertising 
medium.  The  out  of  doors  is  a  riot  of  color  in 
which  clouds,  skies,  rocks,  hills,  forests, 
streams,  rainbows,  birds,  insects,  and  flowers 
vie  with  one  another  in  an  effort  to  display  the 
most  compelling  shades. 

Color  is  a  powerful  attention  arrester.  The 
advertiser  will  use  brilliant  spots  of  red,  livid 
yellows,  or  a  dash  of  royal  purple  to  catch  the 
eye  of  the  public,  for  these  colors  have  a  mar¬ 
velous  power  over  the  human  mind.  Dealers 
in  children’s  goods  display  an  understanding 
of  color  in  painting  toys  and  trinkets.  Dull 
colors  and  drab  tints  would  never  sell  any¬ 
thing  to  a  child.  The  adult  cultivates  his 
taste  for  color  and  establishes  rules  by  which 
they  must  be  combined,  but  by  conforming  to 
these  rules  the  power  of  the  appeal  becomes 
even  stronger. 

The  amusement  house  is  a  great  user  of 
color — costumes,  scenery,  lights,  draperies, 
decorations;  everything  must  have  color.  The 

120 


THE  CHARM  OF  COLOR 


121 


more  one  studies  the  psychology  of  color,  the 
more  does  its  usefulness  appear.  Space  will 
not  permit  a  lengthy  discussion  of  the  psy¬ 
chology  of  color  from  a  scientific  viewpoint, 
but  the  observing  minister  who  applies  himself 
to  the  problem  will  soon  recognize  the  ele¬ 
mental  principles.  No  single  method  can  be 
used  independently,  for  each  is  involved  in 
some  measure  as  others  are  used,  but  the  de¬ 
scriptions  of  services  which  appear  in  this 
chapter  show  how  the  addition  of  the  color 
appeal  makes  the  other  elements  in  the  service 
more  effective. 

A  “rose  service”  was  suggested  by  Dr.  Chris¬ 
tian  F.  Reisner  some  years  ago  which  is 
capable  of  wide  variation  and  always  makes 
an  effective  appeal.  The  advertisement  an¬ 
nounced  that  every  person  in  the  audience 
would  receive  a  rose.  The  sermon  subject  was 
“The  Rose  of  Sharon,”  with  a  special  solo  by 
the  same  title.  The  roses  were  a  memorial  to 
a  good  woman  Avho  had  given  faithful  service 
through  the  church  for  many  years.  The 
organ,  pulpit,  and  platform  were  decorated 
with  roses  in  profusion.  During  the  singing 
of  the  hymn,  just  preceding  the  sermon,  twelve 
young  women  came  forward  in  orderly  fashion 
and  began  distributing  the  roses  to  the  people. 
Great  care  had  been  exercised  in  the  selection 


1  oo 

liJiJ 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


of  gowns  and  the  distribution  of  the  roses  that 
there  should  be  no  unpleasant  color  combina¬ 
tions.  The  distribution  was  complete  as  the 
hymn  closed  with  one  great  vase  of  wonderful 
roses  still  left  for  the  pulpit.  As  the  people 
sat  with  roses  in  their  hands,  the  fragrance 
tilling  the  sanctuary,  there  was  a  spirit  of 
tenderness  and  sympathy  in  the  audience 
which  made  preaching  easy.  One  who  has 
never  seen  graceful  girls  distributing  flowers 
to  a  great  audience  can  scarcely  imagine  what 
a  beautiful  and  inspiring  sight  it  is. 

Field  daisies  were  used  on  another  occasion 
in  a  similar  fashion  with  the  text,  “Solomon  in 
all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these.” 
Because  of  the  hardy  nature  of  the  flowers 
they  can  be  kept  for  a  considerable  time,  and  a 
Saturday  expedition  by  a  Sunday-school  class 
will  provide  the  daisies  and  a  picnic  at  the 
same  time.  Violets  are  a  far  less  conspicuous 
flower  and  should  be  combined  with  some  other 
decoration,  but  they  make  unexcelled  favors 
for  distribution.  Lilies  of  the  valley  are  diffi¬ 
cult  to  secure  in  large  quantities  but  can  be 
used  in  some  instances.  Nothing  more  appro¬ 
priate  can  be  found,  for  the  Scriptures  are  full 
of  allusions  to  these  tiny  beauties.  This  deli¬ 
cate  flower  has  an  appeal  that  few  can  resist. 
Three  heads  of  wheat,  together  with  a 


THE  CHARM  OP  COLOR 


123 


green  leaf,  combine  in  an  attractive  button¬ 
hole  favor,  and  if  gathered  during  the  harvest 
season  can  be  preserved  for  use  any  time  dur¬ 
ing  the  winter.  Small  flags  can  be  obtained 
at  an  insignificant  cost  for  use  on  patriotic 
occasions. 

A  committee  on  decorations  can  be  used 
much  oftener  than  is  realized.  People  who  do 
not  serve  well  anywhere  else  will  frequently 
render  large  service  in  this  work.  If  they  can 
be  given  a  vision  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
work,  they  can  make  their  talent  a  great  asset 
to  the  services.  The  pastor  of  a  country 
church  in  Illinois  enlisted  the  services  of  two 
Sunday-school  classes  and  transformed  the 
sanctuary  into  a  woodland  bower  with  autumn 
leaves.  The  “Harvest  Home  Services’’  for  the 
next  three  Sundays  created  a  sensation  in  the 
town,  though  the  program  of  worship  was  as 
conventional  as  could  be.  One  city  church  in 
a  rooming-house  district  was  accustomed  to 
ship  in  wild  flowers  from  the  country  and  after 
using  them  for  decorations  give  them  away  to 
the  audience  at  the  close  of  the  service. 

Sheaves  of  wheat,  corn,  autumn  leaves, 
fruit,  flags,  bunting,  college  pennants,  mis¬ 
sionary  curios,  historical  relics,  and  a  wide 
variety  of  other  material  can  be  used  to  advan¬ 
tage.  On  a  few  occasions  the  writer  has  used 


124 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


blocks  of  ice  into  which  fruit  and  flowers  have 
been  frozen.  The  effect  during  the  heated  sea¬ 
son  is  very  remarkable.  Green  palms  and 
ferns  in  the  winter  season  when  the  sight  of 
green  is  rare  are  very  pleasing.  By  featuring 
the  decorations  in  the  -advertisements  some 
part  of  the  expense  can  be  met  by  the  increased 
collections.  Cakes  of  ice  wherein  are  frozen 
fruits  and  flowers  make  a  decoration  that  ap¬ 
peals  to  the  sense  of  beauty  as  well  as  the  curi¬ 
osity  of  the  public.  Any  artificial  ice  manu¬ 
facturer  can  produce  such  material  and  will 
frequently  do  so  without  cost.  The  ice  can  be 
set  up  in  tubs  or  “butcher’s  pans”  and  when 
provided  with  a  drain  will  stand  unattended 
for  hours.  The  blocks  of  ice  can  be  surrounded 
by  ferns  and  plants  with  the  pans  draped  with 
green  crepe  paper.  Flags  frozen  into  the  ice 
present  a  beautiful  appearance,  but  care  must 
be  exercised  to  secure  colors  that  will  not 
“run.”  Electric  fans,  mounted  behind  the  ice, 
will  make  the  room  look  twenty  degrees  cooler, 
which  is  just  as  important. 

A  “Florida  Night”  was  arranged  for  mid¬ 
winter  and  advertised  widely.  A  cemetery 
association  furnished  two  truck  loads  of  palms 
and  ferns,  which  were  banked  about  the  pulpit 
and  organ  until  the  place  looked  like  the  ever¬ 
glades.  The  entrance  to  each  aisle  was 


THE  CHARM  OF  COLOR 


125 


through  an  arch  of  palms.  As  the  people  came 
in  from  a  temperature  of  twenty  degrees  below 
zero  they  were  met  with  the  sight  of  palms, 
ferns,  flowers,  and  girls  dressed  in  summer 


Florida  Night 

SIMPSON  CHURCH 

28th  St.  and  First  Ave.  S. 

Will  be  tastefully  decorated  by  ferns  and  Spanish  Moss 
shipped  direct  from  Florida  for  this  service.  Mr.  Pickard, 
a  member  of  our  Methodist  Church  in  Minneapolis  will 
show  views  of  the  “Sunny  South”  land. 

An  orange  will  be  given  every  one  who  attends  the 
service. 

SUNDAY  EVENING,  FEBRUARY  6,  1921 

The  sermon  subject  will  be: 

“A  Warm  Hearted  God  in  a  Cold  Hearted  World.” 


The  Whittier  School  Orchestra  will  furnish  music. 


The  announcement  of  the  “Florida  Service” 

gowns  acting  as  ushers.  Oranges,  shipped  by 
fast  express  from  Florida,  were  given  out  by 
more  girls  attired  in  summer  gowns  of  deli¬ 
cate  tints.  Colored  post  cards  showing  the 
growing  of  oranges  accompanied  the  fruit. 
The  sermon  theme  was  “A  Warm-Hearted  God 
in  a  Cold-Hearted  World’’  and  was  an  appeal 


126 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


to  those  who  were  discouraged  because  of  the 
unfriendliness  of  men  to  cultivate  the  warm¬ 
hearted  friendship  of  God.  Just  as  modern 
transportation  has  bridged  the  gulf  between 
Florida  and  Minnesota,  so  does  faith  bridge 
the  gulf  between  the  heart  of  God  and  the  cold¬ 
ness  of  the  world.  Two  modest  bouquets  of 
white  flowers,  one  on  each  side  of  the  pulpit, 
relieved  the  monotony  of  green,  and  a  crate 
of  oranges,  upset  on  a  table  in  the  midst  of 
the  ferns,  lent  color  to  the  decorations.  An 
orchestra  of  thirty  pieces  rendered  a  prelude 
of  Southern  airs,  and  the  hymns  were  all 
chosen  to  express  the  solicitude  of  God.  An 
excellent  display  of  Florida  fruit  and  vege¬ 
tables  was  mounted  on  a  table  on  the  pulpit 
and  a  member  of  the  congregation  explained 
the  exhibit  to  all  inquirers  at  the  close  of  the 
service.  The  young  women  took  up  the  col¬ 
lection,  and  their  delicately  tinted  gowns  made 
a  beautiful  contrast  against  the  green  as  they 
stood  before  the  altar.  Perhaps  it  was  the 
novelty  of  the  plan,  perhaps  it  was  the  exten¬ 
sive  advertising,  perhaps  it  was  the  oranges, 
perhaps  it  was  the  music,  but  something  had 
caught  the  attention  of  the  community,  for 
the  church  was  packed  to  the  doors  for  more 
than  half  an  hour  before  the  service  began,  and 
hundreds  were  turned  away.  A  wealthy  busi- 


THE  CHARM  OF  COLOR 


127 


ness  man  said,  some  weeks  after  tlie  service : 
“I  went  to  that  service,  not  because  I  wanted 
an  orange,  but  because  I  was  sure  that  a  man 
who  would  plan  such  a  service  must  have 
something  to  say  that  would  be  fresh  and  in¬ 
teresting.  I  came  expecting  to  be  entertained, 
of  course,  but  I  soon  forgot  the  entertainment 
and  entered  deeply  into  the  spirit  of  worship 
which  I  found  pervading  the  service.”  There 
was  nothing  sensational  about  the  service  it¬ 
self,  though  the  advertising  and  the  setting 
were  unusual.  The  program  of  the  evening 
was  as  dignified  and  stately  as  any  morning 
service.  There  was  a  strong  appeal  to  the 
sense  of  curiosity,  of  course,  but  there  was 
also  a  marked  appeal  to  contrast,  Florida 
and  Minnesota,  summer  and  winter,  February 
and  August,  palms  and  snow,  God  and  trouble, 
religion  and  worldliness — all  of  these  ideas 
stood  as  exact  opposites.  The  oranges,  palms, 
ferns,  music,  lights,  songs,  and  crowd  de¬ 
veloped  analogies  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
of  which  the  preacher  did  not  dream. 

A  railroad  passenger  agent  telephoned  the 
church  office  one  day  to  ask  if  a  group  of 
American  Indians  could  be  used.  Having 
attended  the  services  a  great  deal,  he  had  seen 
the  use  made  of  other  features  and,  knowing 
that  the  Indians  were  to  be  in  the  city,  he 


128 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


was  offering  their  services.  The  announce¬ 
ment  of  “ American  Indian  Night”  attracted 
a  capacity  house  even  in  the  midst  of  the  sum¬ 
mer  heat.  The  sermon  theme  was  “The  Great 
Spirit,”  which  presented  a  wonderful  mis¬ 
sionary  opportunity.  The  whole  service  was 
grouped  around  the  idea  of  the  advancement 
of  Christianity  over  nature  worship — an  ap¬ 
propriate  theme  for  the  vacation  time  when 
many  people  had  gone  to  the  woods  to  “com¬ 
mune  with  nature.”  The  organ  prelude  was  a 
weird,  woodsy  number  suggestive  of  the  out 
of  doors.  Girl  Scouts  in  uniform,  with  long 
black  feathers  stuck  in  their  hair,  acted  as 
ushers  and  collectors.  A  magnificent  or¬ 
chestra  of  thirty  pieces  gave  a  thirty-minute 
concert  of  high-grade  music  preluding  the 
service,  at  the  close  of  which  a  choir  of  fifty 
children  filed  into  the  choir  loft  and  the  five 
Indian  chiefs,  two  squaws  and  a  papoose  came 
to  the  pulpit  platform  together  with  the  pas¬ 
tor.  The  chiefs  were  dressed  in  civilian 
clothes,  but  the  squaws  were  resplendent  in 
gayly  colored  shawls  and  ornaments.  The 
great  green  blanket  carried  by  one  of  the 
chiefs,  the  copper  colored  skins,  the  long, 
black-braided  hair,  the  conspicuous  jewelry, 
the  Girl  Scouts,  the  prominent  American  flag, 
and  the  decorations  of  Indian  beadwork  made 


THE  CHARM  OF  COLOR 


129 


a  color  combination  that  was  attractive 
indeed.  A  little  fourteen-year-old  girl  dressed 
as  an  Indian  maiden,  sang  “By  the  Waters 
of  Minnetonka,”  as  a  solo  and  the  State  His¬ 
torical  Society  had  loaned  two  automobile 
loads  of  Indian  relics  for  decorations.  Three 
characteristics  of  the  Indian  were  evident  in 
the  service :  dignity,  love  of  nature,  and  faith. 
The  service  opened  with  “Day  Is  Dying  in  the 
West,”  which  is  a  nature  hymn.  This  was  fol¬ 
lowed  by  “Saviour,  Like  a  Shepherd  Lead  Us,” 
a  hymn  of  childlike  faith.  The  children’s  choir 
sang  an  anthem  arrangement  of  Handel’s 
“Largo,”  which  is  dignified  and  stately.  Each 
of  the  Indians  was  introduced  by  name  and 
received  his  ovation  with  all  the  grace  and 
dignity  of  a  European  diplomat. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  aspects  of  the 
service  was  the  attitude  of  the  Indians  them¬ 
selves,  each  one  of  whom  was  a  member  of 
some  Protestant  church.  In  their  work  for 
the  railroad  they  appeared  in  blankets  and 
paint,  but  they  insisted  upon  coming  to  church 
in  their  civilian  clothes,  saying,  “We  are  go¬ 
ing  to  worship,  not  to  parade.”  The  teaching 
opportunity  of  the  service  was  unsurpassed, 
for  the  whole  work  of  the  church  for  the 
Indian  was  fully  surveyed.  The  sight  of  those 
massive  bronzed  men,  each  one  a  physical 


130 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


giant,  sitting  through  the  service  in  stoical 
grace  and  dignity,  provided  a  background  for 
a  missionary  and  evangelistic  appeal  that  was 
superb.  Incidentally,  a,  great  friendship  for 
the  church  and  the  minister  sprang  up  among 
the  Indians  of  the  city,  most  of  whom  were  in 
the  service.  The  next  day  a  great  feast  was  to 
be  held  in  the  home  of  one  of  the  Indians,  and 
the  minister  was  the  one  white  man  invited  to 
share  the  festivities  of  the  occasion. 

An  educational  service  was  arranged  for 
the  purpose  of  inspiring  young  people  to  at¬ 
tend  college.  Announcement  was  made  from 
the  pulpit  that  college  and  high-school  pen¬ 
nants  were  wanted  for  decorative  purposes,  as 
a  result  of  which  scores  of  pennants  of  every 
color  and  hue  were  sent  in.  A  committee  of 
higli-school  girls  arranged  the  pennants  in  a 
very  artistic  fashion  across  the  front  of  the 
church.  A  college  glee  club  from  an  adjoining 
town  was  secured  to  furnish  the  music.  The 
college  colors  of  the  local  denominational 
school  were  used  for  general  decorations  and  a 
full  supply  of  the  college  catalogues  were 
ready  for  the  young  people  who  would  attend 
the  service. 

The  nurses  from  hospitals  in  the  city  were 
invited  to  attend  the  services  as  special  guests 
and  occupy  a  reserved  section  of  seats.  By 


THE  CHARM  OF  COLOR 


131 


special  consent  of  the  hospital  authorities  they 
were  permitted  to  wear  their  white  nurses’ 
uniforms  and  in  the  midst  of  the  service 
occurred  a  delightful  surprise  in  which  light, 
color,  and  music  combined.  A  young  lady 


®{{r  pastor  nnb  profile 

of  Paul  cfKctfjobiat  (SJbuvch 
'  corbiahg  infiite  you  to  atiertb  a 

Special  jirrfrt tt  fur  ^Tururs 

<©n  J&unbag  (April  ZZ\$,  at  7:45  p.  m. 

Sections  of  seats  foil!  be  reserbeb  for  eaclj  training  sdjooL 
J§pectal  (iUnsic.  (Conte  for  a  Pappjj  (ITtrttc. 

(Corbiallu, 

JSfertttmrc 

“(£f]e  (®rcat  pt|gsician." 


The  personal  touch  in  this  invitation  is  emphasized  by  the 
signature  of  the  pastor,  thus  combining  formality  and  cor¬ 
diality.  Nearly  four  hundred  nurses  were  in  attendance. 

harpist  had  been  gowned  as  a  Red  Cross 
nurse  with  a  beautiful  silk  flag  draped  from 
shoulder  to  waist.  Her  harp  stood  upon  a 
platform  behind  curtains,  at  one  side  of  the 
pulpit.  Following  the  Scripture  lesson,  in  the 
midst  of  introductory  comment,  the  house 
lights  suddenly  went  out.  The  voice  of  the. 


132 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


preacher  was  stilled  and  the  audience  became 
breathless  with  expectancy.  Suddenly  a  spot¬ 
light  illuminated  a  small  spot  of  the  curtain 
which  was  slowly  drawn  back,  revealing  the 
great  gold  harp  and  the  flag-draped  harpist  in 
nurse’s  uniform  against  a  background  of  spot¬ 
less  white.  The  gold,  red,  blue,  and  white 
combined  in  an  impression  impossible  to  de¬ 
scribe.  After  the  first  gasp  of  surprise,  the 
young  woman  began  playing  a  delicate  air  full 
of  plaintiveness  and  pathos  to  which  the  peo¬ 
ple  listened  with  almost  painful  attention. 

A  Red  Cross  banner,  made  of  silk,  display¬ 
ing  a  red  cross  on  a  white  field,  suspended  by  a 
gold  cord,  hung  from  the  center  of  the  organ 
one  night  when  nurses  were  present.  The 
significance  of  the  Red  Cross  organization  was 
the  subject  of  comment  when  the  lights  began 
to  go  out.  When  all  was  dark  and  the  audi¬ 
ence  was  quiet,  a  stereopticon  light  suddenly 
flashed  out  illuminating  the  banner  only.  The 
brilliant  white  light,  the  shimmering  silk,  the 
deep  red  and  the  sudden  appearance  of  the 
light  gave  the  audience  a  genuine  thrill.  From 
the  choir  loft  a  male  quartet  began  singing : 

“Must  Jesus  bear  the  cross  alone, 

And  all  the  world  go  free? 

No,  there’s  a  cross  for  every  one, 

And  there’s  a  cross  for  me,” 


CHAPTER  XI 


THROUGH  THE  EYE  GATE 

The  deepest  impressions  upon  the  human 
mind  are  those  which  originate  in  sensations 
which  reach  the  brain  through  the  eye.  An 
audience  may  be  unfamiliar  with  words,  argu¬ 
ments,  and  historical  allusions,  but  it  can  al¬ 
ways  form  conclusions  concerning  actions. 
The  need  of  visual  aids  in  the  education  of 
children  has  long  been  recognized,  but  we  have 
largely  overlooked  the  value  of  dramatic  ac¬ 
tion  in  our  appeal  to  the  adult  mind.  The 
Catholic  Church,  through  its  lighted  candles, 
mysterious  rites,  and  brilliant  robes,  has  made 
a  powerful  appeal  to  the  imagination  as  Avell 
as  the  emotions,  but  the  Protestant  Church 
has  made  small  appeal  to  the  sight  sense  aside 
from  stained-glass  windows,  vested  choirs,  and 
occasionally  an  illuminated  cross. 

The  church  is  the  mother  of  the  mediaeval 
drama,  but  those  early  moral  and  miracle 
plays,  enacted  for  religious  purposes,  bear 
slight  resemblance  to  the  offerings  of  the  mod- 
ern  theater.  The  church  has  drawn  apart 
from  the  theater  to  save  its  own  moral  stand- 

133 


134 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


ards,  but  in  doing'  so  it  has  surrendered  the 
dramatic  method  of  presenting  a  religious  mes¬ 
sage.  The  recent  revival  of  religious  pag¬ 
eantry  is  a  recognition  of  the  value  of  the 
dramatic  appeal  and  an  effort  to  reappro¬ 
priate  it  for  religious  uses.  It  is  the  purpose 
of  this  chapter  to  indicate  some  ways  in  which 
dramatic  action  can  be  used  in  the  presenta¬ 
tion  of  a  message  in  connection  with  a  service 
of  worship. 

The  church  has  made  almost  no  use  of  dra¬ 
matic  action  in  services  of  worship.  Though 
the  memory  of  action  is  far  more  accurate 
than  the  memory  of  words,  it  has  depended 
almost  entirely  upon  words  to  present  its  mes¬ 
sage.  The  dramatist  seldom  tells  his  audience 
what  it  must  believe.  He  undertakes  to  win 
the  sympathy  or  stir  the  prejudice  of  his  audi¬ 
ence,  and  through  action  and  word  win  ap¬ 
proval  for  his  judgments.  By  an  appeal  to 
the  emotions  he  guides  the  thinking  of  the 
audience  and  molds  its  opinions  by  making 
the  characters  live  before  their  eyes. 

The  church  service  does  not  need  elaborate 
equipment  to  employ  dramatic  action.  The 
stage  settings,  in  most  cases,  may  be  sim¬ 
ple.  In  fact,  the  more  the  imagination  of  the 
audience  is  used,  the  better  is  the  cause  of  wor¬ 
ship  served.  Simple  lighting,  minor  decora- 


THROUGH  THE  EYE  GATE  135 


tions,  well-cliosen  music,  consecrated  actors, 
and  a  great  idea  are  all  that  is  needed.  The 
church  audience  is  not  interested  in  a  spec¬ 
tacle  but  in  the  presentation  of  an  idea.  Most 
people  have  heard  the  great  religions  stories 
often  enough  so  that. imagination  supplies  the 
settings  when  they  sec  them  enacted  in  a  rever¬ 
ent  manner. 

The  story  of  the  ten  virgins  had  been  chosen 
as  the  text  for  the  evening  service  and  ten 
young  women  were  asked  to  assist.  A  simple 
recital  of  the  story  in  musical  form  has  been 
prepared  by  Lyon  and  Healy  (Wabash 
Avenue,  Chicago)  which  was  used  as  the  basis 
of  the  pageant.  FolloAving  a  song  service  in 
which  songs  chosen  emphasized  the  brevity  of 
life,  the  scriptural  version  of  the  story  was 
recited  during  which  the  lights  in  the  sanctu¬ 
ary  were  turned  out.  The  gradual  extinguish¬ 
ing  of  the  lights  had  the  effect  of  quieting  the 
audience  and  producing  a  mood  of  expectancy. 
The  stereopticon  flooded  the  pulpit  platform 
with  a  dark  blue  light  representing  night. 
Simultaneously  with  the  appearance  of  the 
light  the  organ  began  the  music  very  softly,  in¬ 
creasing  slightly  in  volume  as  the  ten  virgins, 
draped  in  white  robes  and  carrying  lighted 
candles,  came  into  the  lighted  area  in  a  slow, 
dignified  manner.  They  quietly  grouped  them- 


13G 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


selves  about  tlie  center  of  the  platform  as  if 
preparing  for  the  night,  and  at  last  all  was 
still.  Suddenly  from  a  far  off  corner  of  the 
church  a  voice  was  heard  singing,  “Behold  the 
Bridegroom  Cometh.”  The  virgins  awakened 
and  began  making  preparations  for  the  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  bridegroom,  when  it  was  discovered 
that  five  of  the  candles  had  gone  out.  The  five 
with  unlighted  candles,  grouped  together, 
sang  an  appeal  for  light  and  the  other  five 
urged  them  to  go  to  those  who  sold  that  they 
might  buy  oil  for  themselves.  As  the  five 
foolish  virgins  left  the  platform  to  relight 
their  candles  the  wise  virgins  faced  in  the 
direction  from  which  the  voice  was  heard. 
Suddenly  a  door  was  opened,  and  their  faces 
were  flooded  with  light  as  they  sang  a  song  of 
greeting.  The  white  light  on  their  faces  and 
the  dark  blue  light  on  the  stage  made  a.  color 
effect  never  to  be  forgotten.  They  left  the 
stage  and  the  door  was  shut  when  the  foolish 
ones  returned  with  lighted  candles,  singing, 
a01i  Let  Us  In.”  The  last  sound  as  the  foolish 
virgins  knelt  in  the  deep  blue  light,  just  out¬ 
side  the  door,  was  the  singing  of  the  wise 
virgins  growing  fainter  and  fainter.  The 
audience  was  deeply  moved  as  the  last  notes  of 
“Too  late,  Too  late,”  died  away  in  the  distance, 
leaving  the  foolish  virgins  kneeling  in  su  ppii- 


THROUGH  THE  EYE  GATE  137 


cation  before  the  closed  door.  As  the  deep- 
blue  light  faded  out,  the  pastor  took  the  pul¬ 
pit  and  began  praying.  The  foolish  virgins 
extinguished  their  candles  and  under  cover  of 
the  darkness,  slipped  from  the  platform  with¬ 
out  a  sound.  As  the  prayer  closed  with  the 
Lord’s  Prayer,  the  lights  returned  and  the 
audience  saw  nothing  but  the  pastor  on  the 
empty  platform.  During  the  singing  of  the 
next  hymn  the  pulpit  was  put  in  place  and 
the  services  proceeded  as  usual,  but  preach¬ 
ing  a  sermon  on  Christian  preparedness  was 
almost  unnecessary  after  that  impressive  re¬ 
living  of  the  story  of  the  ten  virgins. 

Two  young  men  were  invited  into  the  pulpit 
with  the  pastor  to  assist  in  reading  the  Scrip¬ 
ture  lesson,  which  was  the  story  of  Jesus’ 
conversation  Avith  Mcodemus.  One  of  the 
young  men  read  the  introduction  of  the  story 
and  the  second  took  the  part  of  Mcodemus, 
saying,  “Master,  we  know  thou  art  a  teacher 
come  from  God,”  etc.  The  pastor  replied  in 
the  words  of  Jesus,  and  the  lesson  was  read 
thus  in  dialogue  form  to  the  sixteenth  verse 
which  was  read  by  the  first  young  man.  As 
those  beautiful  words,  “For  God  so  loved  the 
world,”  were  being  read  the  pastor  gazed  in¬ 
tently  at  the  one  avIio  had  taken  the  part  of 
Mcodemus  and  asked,  “Do  you  believe  those 


138 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


words?”  A  most  intimate  and  personal  inter¬ 
pretation  of  the  great  text  followed  in  dia¬ 
logue  form  which  that  audience  will  never  for¬ 
get,  The  familiar  lesson  had  been  read  in 
their  hearing  many  times  before,  but  never  did 
it  make  such  an  impression  as  when  the  con¬ 
versation  seemed  to  be  actually  taking  place 
in  their  presence.  A  large  number  of  scrip¬ 
tural  narratives  can  be  treated  in  this  fashion 
with  enormous  profit  and  effectiveness. 

The  Gideons  arranged  a  service  which  was 
calculated  to  appeal  to  men.  An  enormous 
urn,  resembling  in  appearance  the  Gideon 
pitcher,  stood  on  a  pedestal  on  one  side  of  the 
pulpit  and  a  beautiful  illuminated  transpar¬ 
ency  of  the  Gideon  pitcher  occupied  a  pedestal 
on  the  other  side.  A  score  of  pitchers,  carry¬ 
ing  lighted  candles,  decorated  the  pulpit  area, 
and  small  white  pitchers  were  used  by  the 
collectors  in  taking  the  evening  offering.  At 
the  close  of  the  sermon  one  of  the  Gideons 
came  forward  and  called  for  the  Gideon  circle. 
All  Gideons  present  took  their  places  im¬ 
mediately,  forming  a  line  about  the  audience. 
All  Christian  men  were  invited  to  join  the 
circle,  and  then  the  invitation  was  extended  to 
all  men  who  wished  to  begin  the  Christian 
life.  By  this  time  the  line  of  men  completely 
circled  the  room.  They  were  asked  to  join 


139 


THROUGH  THE  EYE  GATE 


hands  and  sing  “Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds.’’ 
The  sight  of  that  line  of  men,  hands  joined, 
singing  that  wonderful  hymn  of  Christian  fel¬ 
lowship,  was  almost  irresistible.  An  Episco¬ 
pal  rector  was  visiting  the  service  that  night 
and  took  his  place  in  line  with  the  men.  At 
the  close  of  the  service  he  was  invited  for¬ 
ward  to  pronounce  the  benediction.  This 
simple  manifestation  of  the  spirit  of  Chris¬ 
tian  fellowship,  together  with  the  sight  of 
those  Christian  men  banded  together  and  sing¬ 
ing,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  that  audience. 

The  Last  Days  in  Rome 

A  Sunday  evening  service,  absolutely  different, 
will  be  presented  at 

Simpson  Church 

28th  Street  and  Firat  Avenue  South 

A  DRAMATIC  PRESENTATION 
OF  A  SCENE  FROM  THE  LAST 
DAYS  OF  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL 

Sunday  Eve.,  June  25 

8:00  P.  M. 

will  be  presented  in  costume,  with  special 
lighting  effect  and  decorations.  ’  Dr.  William 
C.  Sainsbury,  pastor  of  Trinity  Methodist 
Church,  St.  Paul  will  take  the  part  of  St.  Paul 
and  the  Rev.  Roy  L.  Smith  of  Simpson 
Church  will  take  the  part  of  St.  Luke.  Roman 
guards,  special  music  settings  and  dramatic 
action  will  make  of  tbis  a  service  you  will 
never  forget. 

SLATS  FREE  AS  LONG  AS  THE  LAST, 


Handbill  announcing  Sunday  night  dramatic  service 


140 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


Two  ministers  whose  hours  of  service  per¬ 
mitted  an  exchange  of  assistance,  arranged  a 
dramatic  presentation  of  an  imaginary  scene 
from  the  closing  days  of  the  life  of  Saint  Paul. 
The  pulpit  platform  was  curtained  and  draped 
to  give  the  appearance  of  a  Roman  house. 
The  preliminaries  of  the  service  proceeded  ex¬ 
actly  as  if  a  sermon  were  to  follow.  After 
the  prayer  a  hymn  was  sung  and  the  house 
lights  were  all  turned  off  leaving  only  the 
organ  loft  illuminated.  From  the  organ  there 
came  the  dignified  and  stately  music  of 
Handel’s  “Largo.”  During  the  music  the  foot¬ 
lights  were  turned  on  and  as  the  music  closed 
a  stereopticon  flooded  the  platform  with  light 
from  above.  After  a  brief  pause  a  young  man, 
dressed  as  a  Roman  guard,  with  plumed  helmet 
and  sword,  entered  and  placed  two  lighted 
candles  upon  the  table,  retiring  to  a  position 
near  one  of  the  entrances.  The  audience  heard 
the  clanking  of  chains  and  one  of  the  min¬ 
isters,  garbed  as  an  old  man  and  chained  to  a 
Roman  guard,  groped  his  way  as  if  half  blind, 
and  seated  himself  at  the  side  of  the  table. 
The  guard  made  his  prisoner  secure  and  took 
his  position  near  another  entrance,  opposite 
his  colleague.  The  old  man,  representing 
Paul,  opened  a  conversation  with  one  of  the 
guards,  who  proved  to  be  a  Roman  convert  to 


THROUGH  THE  EYE  GATE  141 

m 

Christianity,  in  which  he  recited  the  story  of 
his  life  since  his  conversion.  As  he  closed  the 
story,  referring  to  his  imprisonment  he  said, 
“Demas  hath  forsaken  me,  only  Luke  is  with 
me.”  This  was  the  cue  for  the  entrance  of  the 
second  minister,  who  appeared  dressed  as  a 
traveler  and  deposited  some  scrolls  in  a  rack 
near  by.  From  then  on  the  conversation  be¬ 
tween  the  two  consisted  largely  of  Scripture 
quotations  in  which  the  missionary  journeys 
of  Paul  and  Luke  were  described  and  the  spir¬ 
itual  purpose  and  historical  background  of 
their  writings  was  defined.  As  Luke  took  up 
the  recital  of  his  visit  with  Mary,  the  mother 
of  Jesus,  he  recited  the  story  of  the  nativity 
and  the  organ  played  “Holy  Night”  most 
effectively.  The  whole  conversation  was  ar¬ 
ranged  to  present  the  significance  of  Paul’s 
missionary  work  and  Luke’s  writings  and 
closed  with  a  triumphant  speech  from  Paul 
which  closed  with  the  words,  “The  time  of  my 
departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good 
fight,  I  have  kept  the  faith,  I  have  finished  my 
course,”  etc.  Supported  by  Luke,  lie  retired 
from  the  scene  repeating  the  Ephesian  prayer 
and  the  apostolic  benediction.  As  the  two  dis¬ 
appeared,  the  lights  went  out  and  a  beautiful 
illuminated  cross  flashed  on  while  a  woman’s 
voice  was  heard  singing,  “Am  I  a  Soldier  of 


142 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


the  Cross?”  When  the  hymn  was  completely 
finished  the  ministers  returned  to  the  plat¬ 
form  attired  in  clerical  garb  and  closed  the 
service  with  a  congregational  hymn  and  a 
prayer.  No  one  in  that  audience  can  ever 
forget  the  glimpse  they  had  that  night  into 
the  sufferings  and  labors  of  the  two  mission¬ 
aries  of  the  early  Christian  Church.  The  edu¬ 
cational  opportunity  of  such  a  service  is  ex¬ 
ceptional  and  the  extensive  scriptural  quota¬ 
tions  produce  an  impression  that  cannot  be  de¬ 
scribed.  The  costumes,  borrowed  from  a 
Masonic  lodge,  and  the  stage  furniture,  ex¬ 
tremely  simple,  are  available  to  any  church. 

A  certain  amount  of  action  during  the  serv¬ 
ice  provides  opportunity  for  resting  the  audi¬ 
ence.  Standing  to  sing  is  often  a  real  relief. 
The  leader  of  the  meeting,  being  in  action  most 
of  the  time,  does  not  realize  how  easily  the 
audience  tires  of  one  position.  Asking  the 
audience  some  questions  that  require  answers 
by  standing  or  the  raising  of  hands  helps  to 
counteract  fatigue.  When  groups  of  invited 
guests  are  present  they  can  be  asked  to  stand, 
the  rest  of  the  audience  welcoming  them  with 
applause.  City  audiences  can  sometimes  be 
studied  with  great  profit  by  asking  all  those 
to  stand  who  came  to  the  service  on  street  cars, 
or  those  who  came  “more  than  one  mile,”  etc. 


THROUGH  THE  EYE  GATE  143 


The  audience  is  always  as  much  interested  in 
the  results  of  these  questionnaires  as  the 
leader  himself. 

Simple  expedients  can  be  used  with  little 
trouble  which  will  produce  the  element  of  sur¬ 
prise.  During  a  sermon  on  “Homes  and 
Homemakers”  the  audience  was  hushed  by 
hearing  the  strains  of  “Home,  Sweet  Home/’ 
break  in  upon  the  discourse.  The  preacher 
turned  and  listened  as  intently  as  did  the  audi¬ 
ence  until  the  last  note  died  away,  then 
pressed  home  an  invitation  that  the  audience 
will  never  forget.  Of  course  he  had  it  planned 
with  the  musician  in  a  distant  room.  Asking 
the  audience  to  read  a  verse  of  a  hymn  will 
give  it  emphasis  that  no  comment  could  give. 
The  switching  of  lights,  the  appearance  of 
articles  of  high  suggestive  value,  sudden  con¬ 
trasts — all  of  these  things  carry  the  element  of 
surprise.  During  an  appeal  for  suffering  chil¬ 
dren  one  minister  suddenly  drew,  from  be¬ 
hind  the  pulpit,  a  little  ragged  suit.  That 
mute  appeal  was  irresistible.  Dr.  Frank  W. 
Gunsaulus  once  brought  an  audience  to  its 
feet  by  stooping  and  kissing  the  flag  which 
draped  the  pulpit.  Stationing  a  quartet  in 
another  room  to  sing  antiphonally  with  the 
choir  is  an  excellent  device.  One  preacher 
who  is  himself  a  good  singer  frequently  inter- 


144 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


rupts  a  service  to  sing  a  verse  of  some  hymn 
instead  of  quoting  the  lines.  With  music, 
lights,  and  sweet-toned  organ  the  minister  has 
a  rich  treasury  out  of  which  to  produce  sur¬ 
prise  and  variety. 


CHAPTER  XII 


ATMOSPHERE 

The  artist  will  not  permit  his  picture  to 
be  hung  in  surroundings  which  do  not  enhance 
the  beauty  of  his  canvas.  The  musician 
chooses  liis  numbers  with  the  strictest  regard 
for  their  fitness  for  the  occasion.  The  drama¬ 
tist  seeks  to  build  up  a  state  of  mind  on  the 
part  of  the  public  which  will  assist  in  pre¬ 
senting  the  message  of  liis  play.  If  “atmos¬ 
phere”  is  important  to  the  artist,  the  musician 
and  the  dramatist,  it  must  be  of  great  im¬ 
portance  to  the  preacher. 

The  human  mind  depends  largely  upon  the 
association  of  ideas.  Therefore  every  asso¬ 
ciated  idea  in  a  service  must  be  planned  to  en¬ 
force  the  central  idea  of  the  message.  Much 
of  the  success  of  the  message  will  depend  upon 
a  receptive  state  of  mind  on  the  part  of  the 
audience.  Any  speaker  knows  how  difficult 
it  is  to  “warm  up  a  cold  audience.”  Now,  the 
whole  purpose  of  the  early  part  of  the  service 
is  to  do  this  very  thing.  The  music,  the 
prayers,  and  the  features  of  the  service  must 
develop  a  state  of  mind  to  which  the  message 
may  make  its  strongest  appeal. 

145 


14G 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


An  analysis  of  tlie  program  of  service  will 
reveal  many  ways  to  create  a  favorable  atmos¬ 
phere  for  the  message.  Music,  prayers, 
decorations,  ushers,  features,  sermon  theme, 
souvenirs  or  reminders,  special  printed  pro¬ 
grams,  and  stage  settings  have  possibilities  in 
the  hand  of  the  resourceful  minister.  If  every 
item  in  the  service  is  planned  to  tit  into  the 
general  theme  in  some  definite  way,  it  will  be 
worth  all  the  extra  work  that  is  involved  in 
view  of  the  deeper  impression  made. 

A  blind  man  came  to  the  door  of  the  parson¬ 
age  one  morning  selling  brooms.  The  conver¬ 
sation  revealed  the  fact  that  the  brooms  were 
made  in  a  factory  operated  entirely  by  blind 
men,  under  the  supervision  of  a  society  for 
the  blind.  That  afternoon  a  call  was  made 
upon  the  secretary  of  the  society  with  the  re¬ 
sult  that  a  few  weeks  later  a  service  for  the 

i 

blind  was  announced.  Every  blind  person  in 
the  city  received  a  special  letter  inviting  him 
to  the  service.  A  trio  of  blind  musicians  of 
remarkable  ability  furnished  special  music. 
The  secretary  of  the  society  was  given  a  few 
minutes  in  the  service  to  tell  about  the 
work  of  the  organization  and  to  appeal 
for  patronage  for  the  blind  peddlers.  The 
hymns  chosen  were  all  by  blind  writers, 
such  as  Fanny  Crosby  and  George 


ATMOSPHERE 


147 


Matheson.  The  advertisement  of  the  serv¬ 
ice  announced  that  three  hundred  blind 
people  had  been  invited  and  that  the  pastor 
would  speak  on  “Seeing  Without  Eyes.” 
Nearly  one  hundred  blind  people  were  present 
and  the  unusualness  of  the  service  attracted 
hundreds  whose  physical  vision  was  unim¬ 
paired  but  who  sadly  needed  the  services  of 
the  Great  Physician  for  spiritual  vision.  Great 
care  was  exercised  in  every  detail  of  the  serv¬ 
ice  to  avoid  any  expression  of  pity  for  the  un¬ 
fortunate  guests.  After  the  music  from  the 
blind  musicians,  the  hymns  by  blind  poets,  the 
Scripture  story  of  Jesus  healing  the  blind, 
and  the  spectacle  of  one  hundred  blind  people 
in  the  service,  the  people  had  begun  to  preach 
sermons  to  themselves  on  spiritual  blindness 
that  were  more  effective  than  anything  the 
preacher  said.  There  was  just  one  idea 
present  in  that  service  that  night — the  need 
of  sight,  physical  and  spiritual. 

Armistice  Sunday  will  present  an  unusual 
opportunity  for  a  good  many  years  to  come. 
The  idea  of  peace  is  closely  associated  with 
the  day  and  makes  one  of  the  most  effective 
themes  around  which  to  build  a  service.  The 
assistance  of  a  regiment  of  the  National  Guard 
was  secured  and  extensive  preparations  made 
for  the  observance  of  the  day.  A  great  piece 


148 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


of  field  artillery  was  stationed  in  front  of  the 
church  several  days  before  the  service  was  to 
be  held,  attracting  no  small  amount  of  atten¬ 
tion.  Two  machine  guns  were  mounted,  one 
on  each  side  of  the  pulpit,  together  with  stacks 
of  arms.  Ferns  were  grouped  about  the  base 
of  the  guns  and  spider  webs  woven  with 
cotton  string  all  over  the  guns.  White  flowers 
were  inserted  into  the  rifle  barrels  further  to 
suggest  the  idea  of  disuse.  Steel  helmets,  in¬ 
verted,  were  used  as  flower  baskets  and  hung 
all  about  the  church.  Artificial  red  roses  were 
used  in  those  hung  at  a  little  distance  from 
the  audience.  Natural  flowers  appeared  in 
the  others.  Steel  helmets  were  used  as  collec¬ 
tion  plates.  The  choir  sang  patriotic  music. 
The  sermon  theme  was  “The  Price  of  Peace.” 
A  stack  of  rifles,  each  with  a  white  flower  in¬ 
serted  in  the  barrel,  stood  just  outside  each 
main  entrance.  Flags,  inside  the  building 
and  out,  completed  the  decorations,  and 
American  Legionaires  were  special  guests. 
The  whole  effect  of  the  decorations  was  to 
create  the  feeling  that  war  was  an  obsolete 
method  of  settling  world  problems  and  preach¬ 
ing  that  morning  was  easy  with  all  those  mute 
sermons  making  constant  appeal  through  the 
eye  as  the  preacher  preached  through  the  ear. 

An  advertisement  appeared  in  the  paper  one 


A  LOAF  OF 

BREAD 

WILL  BE 


Given  to 
Everyone 


in  attendance  on  the  services  of 

Simpson  Church 

First  Ave  So.  and  28th  St 

Sunday  Eve.,  Jan.  16 

JWJIIIIIMMIIIUIM 

SERMON  SUBJECT  : 

“THE  BREAD  OF  LIFE” 

iiywiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiw  . . 

Morning  Subject  “THE  PERSONAL  REVIVAL” 


Souvenirs  are  occasionally  given  out  in  connection  with 
the  service.  These  handbills,  distributed  by  the  thousands, 
show  how  the  announcement  is  made.  This  is  a  direct  ap¬ 
peal  to  the  spirit  of  curiosity.  (See  page  150.) 


150 


CArTURING  CROWDS 


Saturday  announcing  that  every  person  in  the 
audience  on  Sunday  evening  would  be  pre¬ 
sented  with  a  loaf  of  bread.  The  people  came 
by  the  hundreds  until  the  church  was  crowded 
to  capacity.  Young  men  were  stationed  at  the 
door  to  give  out  the  bread,  which  consisted  of 
tiny  loaves,  identical  in  appearance,  except 
in  size,  with  the  regular  commercial  loaf. 
Sheaves  of  wheat  decorated  the  front  of  the 
church,  moving  pictures  showing  the  harvest¬ 
ing,  marketing,  and  grinding  of  the  wheat  and 
ancient  methods  of  milling  and  baking 
strengthened  the  idea  and  the  songs  empha¬ 
sizing  the  thought  of  sowing  and  harvest, 
added  to  the  central  theme.  When  the  pastor 
preached  on  the  text,  “Man  shall  not  live  by 
bread  alone/’  he  was  only  enlarging  upon  the 
preaching  that  the  people  had  been  doing  for 
themselves. 

The  idea  that  religion  and  science  are  im¬ 
placable  foes  has  given  rise  to  unfortunate 
misunderstanding  both  among  religionists 
and  scientists.  Many  good  people  look  with 
suspicion  upon  the  scientific  laboratory. 
With  the  hope  of  showing  God's  partnership 
in  the  laboratory  a  sermon  was  announced 
upon  the  theme,  “Miracle  Men  and  Modern 
Magic/'  in  which  the  work  of  the  chemist,  elec¬ 
trician,  astronomer,  mathematician,  and 


ATMOSPHERE 


151 


botanist  was  described  as  “thinking  the 
thoughts  of  God  after  him.7’  The  text  was 
from  the  story  of  creation — “Let  ns  make  man 
in  our  own  image,  .  .  .  and  let  him  have 

dominion”  (Genesis  1.  2G).  The  glory  of  hu¬ 
manity  as  the  discoverer  of  God  was  empha¬ 
sized  and  deserved  tribute  paid  to  the  honest 
scientist  as  one  who  was  showing  how  God 
worked. 

The  atmosphere  of  a  scientific  laboratory 
was  wanted  for  such  a  service,  and  therefore 
arrangements  were  made  by  which  the  general 
manager  of  the  Air  Reduction  Sales  Company 
was  secured  to  give  a  demonstration  of  liquid 
air.  For  twenty  minutes  lie  performed  weird 
experiments  with  the  liquid  air,  explaining  his 
work  in  untechnical  terms  with  the  result  that 
the  audience  was  fascinated  almost  to  breath¬ 
lessness,  A  sermon  full  of  allusions  to  the 
laboratory  was  a  perfectly  natural  sequence, 
and  the  demonstration  proved  a  most  accept¬ 
able  illustration  from  which  to  proceed.  The 
interest  of  the  young  people  was  very  keen  and 
the  evangelistic  opportunity  in  an  appeal  to 
students  unsurpassed.  The  service  had  the 
advantage  of  having  had  a  distinct  educational 
value. 

In  a  great  rooming-house  neighborhood 
Mother’s  Day  starts  a  train  of  thought  alto- 


152 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


getlier  different  from  that  in  a  family  church 
in  a  residential  area.  The  day  suggested 
homesickness,  loneliness,  and  heartache,  for 
most  of  the  young  people  were  away 
from  home,  struggling  to  get  a.  start  in  the 
city.  Anything  that  could  assist  in  building 
an  atmosphere  that  would  remind  them  of  the 
old  home  would  be  a  distinct  asset.  Arrange¬ 
ments  were  therefore  made  with  a  country 
Sunday  school  to  send  in  great  quantities  of 
fresh  lil  aes  and  violets  from  the  woods. 
Advertisements  were  sent  out  saying  that 
everyone  present  would  get  fresh  wild  flowers 
from  the  country.  There  are  very  few  mothers 
in  a  rooming-house  district,  and  the  mothers 
for  the  occasion  were  “borrowed'’  from  an  old 
people’s  Home,  and  forty  of  them  sang  some 
of  the  old  hymns,  being  advertised  as  a 
“Grandmother’s  Choir.”  Young  girls  distrib- 
uted  the  flowers  at  the  close  of  the  service  and 
every  homesick  youth  was  invited  to  get  ac¬ 
quainted  with  “some  other  person’s  mother.” 
The  country  flowers,  the  kindly  old  faces,  and 
the  general  spirit  of  homesickness  made  a 
combination  from  which  the  dullest  preacher 
could  get  a  heart-warming  sermon. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  was  well  known  as  a 
faithful  churchgoer.  His  birthday  coming  in 
the  late  fall  makes  an  appropriate  occasion 


153 


ATMOSPHERE 

for  a  special  service,  and  the  versatility  of  his 
life  and  interests  furnishes  many  a  theme. 
Flags  are  appropriate  decorations  and  musical 
organizations  from  the  public  schools  will  be 
glad  to  assist.  In  observing  this  occasion  one 
pastor  printed  a  tine  picture  of  Mr.  Roosevelt 
on  the  calendar,  distributed  copies  of  the 
“Roosevelt  Creed”  to  every  person  in  attend¬ 
ance,  and  invited  a  troop  of  Boy  Scouts  to 
attend  as  special  guests  and  assist  in  taking 
up  the  collection.  Their  scout  uniforms  gave 
just  a  touch  of  color,  and  their  manly  ways 
and  well- disciplined  organization  fitted  well 
into  the  thought  of  the  great  President, 

A  service  was  planned  which  was  to  empha¬ 
size  the  importance  of  home  life.  After  some 
preliminary  songs,  the  lights  began  to  go  out 
until  the  house  was  completely  dark.  A  harp¬ 
ist  began  to  play,  very  softly,  “Just  a  Song  at 
Twilight”  and  a  stereopticon  spotlight  of  rich 
dark  red  was  thrown  over  the  musician  as  he 
sat  at  his  harp  near  a  fireplace  in  which  there 
burned  an  “electric  fire.”  As  he  played  the 
old  tune  with  rare  depth  of  feeling,  the  audi¬ 
ence  sat  in  darkness,  thinking  only  of  the  old 
days  and  the  old  home  fireplace.  The  song 
was  finished  and  a  medley  of  old  airs  was 
begun  which  finished  with  “Home,  Sweet 
Home,”  As  the  chords  of  this  wonderful  song 


154 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


were  wafted  into  the  souls  of  the  audience  a 
woman  stepped  into  the  circle  of  light, 
dropped  a  hat  on  the  mantle  and  leaning 
against  the  fireplace  as  if  weary  from  a  long 
journey,  began  singing  the  words  as  the  harp¬ 
ist  played.  When  the  hymn  was  finished  the 
light  faded  out,  the  pastor  began  a  prayer, 
and  the  audience  sobbed  its  appreciation  of 
the  tender  reminders  of  the  old  home  ties. 
There  Avas  little  need  of  preaching  after  the 
singing  of  that  song. 

A  Methodist  Conference  was  meeting  in  a 
city  Avhich  boasted  of  several  beautiful  lakes 
in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Announcement  was 
made  that  a  “Galilee  Service”  Avould  be  held 
on  the  shores  of  the  lake  on  Sunday  afternoon 
folloAving  the  ordination  service.  Inasmuch 
as  the  lake  was  easily  accessible  the  croAvd  Avas 
enormous,  more  than  five  thousand  people 
crowding  down  to  the  water’s  edge  to  partici¬ 
pate  in  the  service.  As  they  waited  they  saw 
a  little  sailboat  put  out  from  shore  across  the 
lake.  All  eyes  were  upon  it  as  the  great 
throng  sang  the  old  hymns  of  the  church. 
When  the  boat  came  Avithin  earshot  five  men 
were  seen  to  occupy  the  boat  beside  the  sailor. 
Four  of  these  were  singing,  “O  Galilee,  Blue 
Galilee.”  When  the  little  boat  came  to  the 
shore  and  furled  its  sails,  the  presiding  bishop 


ATMOSPHERE 


155 


of  the  Conference  stood  up  and  using  a  yard¬ 
arm  for  a  pulpit,  began  reading  from  the  story 
of  Jesus’  preaching  beside  the  sea.  Having 
finished  reading  the  lesson  he  began  preach¬ 
ing  to  the  multitude  concerning  Jesus  who 
preached  to  the  people  beside  the  sea  of  Gali¬ 
lee.  It  was  a  most  impressive  sermon  and  the 
people  hung  on  every  word.  “And  there  were 
many  little  boats”  all  about  the  sailboat, 
which  helped  to  carry  out  the  description  of 
that  ancient  service  which  Jesus  held.  At  the 
close  of  the  sermon  the  benediction  was  pro¬ 
nounced  and  the  little  boat  sailed  away,  but 
there  are  thousands  of  people  to  whom  Jesus’ 
preaching  beside  the  sea  has  an  entirely  new 
significance.  The  reverence  of  the  audience 
could  not  be  surpassed.  The  deep  religious 
impression  it  left  was  a  complete  refutation 
of  any  charge  of  sacrilege.  The  humble  man¬ 
ner  of  the  preacher  and  the  simple  dignity  of 
the  sermon  was  a  quiet  testimony  to  the  gos¬ 
pel  which  had  been  preached  on  Galilee’s  shore 
nineteen  centuries  ago. 

The  announcement  of  a  series  has  consider¬ 
able  value.  All  features,  special  subjects,  and 
dates,  should  be  briefly  set  forth  to  be  read  at 
a  glance.  Pages  156,  157  show  the  inside  of  a 
small  folder,  distributed  by  the  thousand. 


*T  •  1  For  Lovers 

rt  Nights  tt,u 

.  ||  H  — ►  It  i;  —  )l  H  —  IIM— IIM— MM— MH— IIM— MM— Mil— l!ll— IIIJ— -1111^—1111—1111— -II II— »IIN— -IIM— Mil— 

OCTOBER  SUNDAY  EVENINGS 

—MM— MM— MII— MII— MM— Mil— llll— Mil— MU— Mil— Mil— Mil— Mil— llll^—llll^— MU— MM— Mil— Mil- 

Oct.  1.  Sermon  Subject,  “The  Hope  of  the 
World.” 

Henry  J.  Williams,  Soloist. 

Harpist  with  the  Minneapolis  Symphony  Orchestra. 
Watt’s  “HOPE”  in  tableau  and  picture. 

Oct.  8.  Sermon  Subject,  “The  Agony  of 
God.” 

Prof.  William  MacPhail,  Violin  Soloist. 

President  MacPhail  School  of  Music,  the  largest  in 
America 

Hoffman’s  “CHRIST  IN  THE  GARDEN”  in  tableau 
and  picture. 

Oct.  15.  Sermon  Subject,  “A  Visit  from 
God.” 

Prof.  Carlo  Fischer,  Soloist. 

’Cellist  and  Manager  of  the  Minneapolis  Symphony 
Orchestra 

Holman  Hunt’s  “LIGHT  OF  THE  WORLD”  in 
tableau  and  picture. 

Oct.  22.  Sermon  Subject,  “A  Fortune  Which 
Cost  Eternity.  ” 

Henry  E.  Woempner,  Soloist. 

Flute  Soloist  with  the  Minneapolis  Symphony 
Orchestra 

Hoffman’s  “RICH  YOUNG  RULER”  in  tableau 
and  picture. 

Oct.  29.  Sermon  Subject,  “ Prayer  and  the 
Day's  Work." 

Prof.  Abe  Pepinsky,  Viola  Soloist. 

Director  of  the  University  Symphony  Orchestra. 
Millet’s  “ANGELUS”  in  tableau  and  picture. 


MUSIC  SUPREME 

No  more  notable  group  of  soloists  can  be 
assembled  in  the  "northwest  than  those 
announced  in  the  accompanying  program. 
To  hear  them  here  is  to  hear  them  at  their 
best.  A  chorus  choir  and  vocal  soloists 
will  offer  special  selections. 

TIME-TESTED  SONGS 

The  congregation  will  sing  some  of  the 
best  loved  songs  of  all  Christian  hymnol- 
ogy.  A  sweet  toned  organ,  a  piano  and  an 
orchestra  will  lead  the  singing.  The  won¬ 
derful  crowd-singing  will  make  you  hap¬ 
pier  all  week  long. 

LIVING  ART 

The  five  masterpieces  of  sacred  art  will 
be  posed  in  tableaux  with  living  actors, 
special  setting  and  electrical  effects.  Every 
picture  will  be  impressively  and  reverently 
presented  under  the  direction  of  Mrs. 
Maude  O’Connor. 

SOUVENIRS 

Beautiful  reproductions  of  each  picture 
will  be  distributed  to  the  audience  as 
souvenirs.  The  prints  distributed  will  be 
suitable  for  framing. 


158 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


In  providing  “atmosphere”  for  the  Sunday- 
evening  service  two  means  can  be  employed  to 
excellent  advantage  which  have  not  been 
widely  used:  decorations  and  special  ushers. 
At  the  risk  of  repeating  statements  found 
elsewhere  one  final  word  may  be  said  concern¬ 
ing  these  two  important  matters. 

Decorations  cal‘1  for  considerable  work,  but 
their  contribution  to  the  service  is  well  worth 
the  investment.  A  permanent  committee  on 
decorations  can  render  invaluable  service  be¬ 
sides  using  some  individuals  who  might  be 
unwilling  to  assume  more  conspicuous  respon¬ 
sibility.  If  decorating  material  is  to  be  used, 
however,  it  should  be  used  in  sufficient  quanti¬ 
ties  to  produce  the  desired  effect.  If  flowers 
are  to  be  used,  let  them  be  used  in  profusion. 
If  flags  are  chosen,  let  there  be  an  abundance. 
Flags,  of  course,  are  always  in  order  for 
patriotic  occasions,  but  there  is  great  danger 
in  allowing  them  to  hang,  unchanged,  so  long 
that  they  lose  their  appeal.  The  proper  use 
of  the  flag  should  always  be  observed  with 
scrupulous  care.  City  churches  will  fre¬ 
quently  have  access  to  department  stores  from 
which  they  can  borrow  patriotic  material  for 
decorative  purposes.  These  stores  sometimes 
have  stands  of  colors  which  have  been  used 
in  window  displays  which  can  be  secured  by 


ATMOSPHERE 


159 


asking.  A  set  of  historical  flags,  a  stand  of 
allied  flags,  and  several  stands  of  regimental 
colors  have  been  loaned  the  writer  on  different 
occasions.  Patriotic  societies  frequently  have 
shell-torn  flags,  busts  of  national  heroes,  por¬ 
traits,  etc.,  which  can  be  used  to  good  advan¬ 
tage.  In  some  instances  the  department  stores 
have  sent  their  professional  window  trimmers 
to  decorate  the  church,  supplying  the  material 
and  transporting  it  at  their  own  expense  for 
the  sake  of  the  advertising  that  is  given  them. 
For  a  Lincoln  Service  one  window  trimmer 
secured  some  logs,  a  woodman’s  ax,  oak  leaves, 
and  with  the  addition  of  flags  produced  a 
decorative  effect  for  pulpit  platform  and  organ 
loft  that  captivated  the  audiences. 

Flowers  are  always  acceptable.  It  is  usually 
wise  to  use  one  single  flower,  displayed  in  pro¬ 
fusion.  Small  bunches  of  flowers  distributed 
to  the  audience  as  favors  makes  a  delightful 
addition  to  the  service  and  no  one  who  has  not 
seen  it  can  imagine  the  beautiful  impression 
that  is  made  upon  an  audience  by  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  young  women  going  through  the  audi¬ 
ence  distributing  flowers.  The  writer  has 
used  violets,  lilies  of  the  valley,  goldenrod, 
lilacs,  daisies,  and  roses  in  this  fashion. 
Palms  and  ferns  make  excellent  decorations 
during  the  winter  season  and  can  be  secured 


160 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


at  comparatively  low  rates.  Green  crepe 
paper  can  be  used  to  supplement  the  ferns,  giv¬ 
ing  a  better  impression  of  profusion. 

The  use  of  special  ushers  and  collectors  can 
be  made  a  distinct  asset  to  the  service.  Aside 
from  the  contribution  they  make,  the  plan  has 
the  additional  merit  of  using  a  large  number 
of  individuals  and  thus  enlarging  popular 
anticipation  of  the  service.  When  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Indians  were  present  in  the  service  a 
group  of  ten  girls  took  up  the  collection,  each 
one  wearing  a  long  black  feather  in  her  hair 
and  dressed  in  khaki.  When  the  Sliriners 
visited  the  service  the  ushers  were  chosen  from 
that  order  and  each  wore  his  fez.  Boy  Scouts 
in  uniform  have  been  used  for  Roosevelt  Sun¬ 
day,  Boy’s  Night,  and  patriotic  occasions,  and 
for  Woman’s  Home  Missionary  services. 
Legionaires  in  uniform  have  been  used  on 
Memorial  Sunday,  Fourth  of  July,  Armistice 
Sunday,  etc.  Girls  in  summer  gowns  were 
used  on  “Florida  Night,”  white  gowns  with 
patriotic  sashes  added  color  for  patriotic 
occasions,  Chinese  costumes  helped  in  a  mis¬ 
sionary  service,  etc. 

Souvenirs  help  to  carry  out  the  idea  of  the 
service.  Flowers,  flags,  pictures,  etc.,  serve 
admirably.  A  small  hand  mirror  was  given 
to  each  member  of  the  congregation  one  night 


ATMOSPHERE 


161 


when  the  pastor  was  preaching  on  the  text, 
“Like  a  man  beholding  himself  in  a  glass  and 
goeth  straightway  and  forgetteth  what  manner 
of  man  lie  is.” 

A  series  of  services  that  combined  music, 
art,  and  evangelistic  appeal  in  such  an  effec¬ 
tive  way  that  the  attention  of  the  entire  city 
was  arrested  was  announced  under  the  title, 
“Art  Nights.”  The  central  idea  was  the  use 
of  masterpieces  of  sacred  art.  Artists  from 
the  Minneapolis  Symphony  Orchestra  pro¬ 
vided  appropriate  musical  settings  and  beau¬ 
tiful  art  prints  were  presented  to  each  person 
in  the  audience.  A  dramatic  coach  arranged 
a  series  of  tableaux  in  which  the  painting  was 
reproduced  in  a  “living  picture”  with  great 
faithfulness  to  the  original. 

A  description  of  one  service  will  illustrate 
the  plan  of  all.  The  song  service  occupied  the 
first  fifteen  minutes  with  hymns  carefully 
chosen  to  emphasize  the  message  of  the  pic¬ 
ture.  An  evening  prayer  introduced  the  ser¬ 
mon  theme,  the  picture  and  the  anthem  follow¬ 
ing.  The  instrumental  soloist  followed  with  a 
number  chosen  for  the  theme  of  the  evening. 
As  he  played,  all  lights  were  gradually  ex¬ 
tinguished.  When  the  lionse  was  in  complete 
darkness,  curtains  about  the  tableau  stage 
were  drawn  and  lights  began  to  “dim  on”  for 


A  tableau  posing  Millet’s  “The  Angelus illustrating  the 
sermon  based  on  that  masterpiece  of  sacred  art. 


ATMOSPHERE 


1G3 


the  tableau.  As  the  lights  grew  the  figures 
stood  out  more  and  more  distinctly  with  the 
spotlight  finally  completing  the  illumination. 
A  soloist  then  began  an  old  gospel  hymn  which 
fitted  the  picture  and  at  its  close  all  lights  were 
extinguished,  prayer  was  ottered,  and  during 
the  Lord’s  prayer  which  followed  all  lights 
were  turned  on.  The  sermon  followed  im¬ 
mediately. 

The  value  of  the  idea  is  attested  by  the  fact 
that  every  newspaper  in  the  city  reproduced 
photographs  of  the  tableaux,  artists  came 
from  far  and  wide  to  see  them,  and  the  church 
was  utterly  unable  to  accommodate  the  crowds, 
hundreds  being  turned  away  week  after  week. 
A  second  series  three  months  afterward  met 
with  similar  response,  and  nearly  a  score  of 
churches  which  used  the  idea  in  other  cities 
had  the  same  experiences.  One  of  the  lasting 
effects  was  the  hanging  of  sacred  art  in  hun¬ 
dreds  of  homes  which  never  before  knew  its 
message. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


GROUP  SERVICES 

Many  men  would  be  willing  to  attend 
church  if  they  did  not  have  to  make  the  first 
entry  alone.  It  is  not  easy  for  any  of  us  to 
turn  aside  from  beaten  paths  into  untried 
ways,  and  this  is  especially  true  of  working¬ 
men  whose  experience  is  limited.  Thousands 
of  men  think  of  every  church  as  an  aristo¬ 
cratic,  white-collared  institution  which  lives  in 
an  atmosphere  of  artificiality,  conducting  its 
services  according  to  an  intricate  and  complex 
plan  which  involves  great  risk  of  embar¬ 
rassment.  If  such  men  can  be  brought  into 
the  service  in  company  with  their  fellows,  if 
they  can  be  made  to  feel  the  spirit  of  hospi¬ 
tality  and  helpfulness,  there  is  a  chance  to 
arouse  such  interest  that  they  will  come  again 
of  their  own  initiative. 

The  writer  has  used  the  plan  of  “group 
services”  for  several  years  with  most  gratify¬ 
ing  results.  A  study  of  the  community  reveals 
the  fact  that  every  man  and  woman  is  more 
or  less  closely  associated  with  some  group. 

164 


GROUP  SERVICES 


165 


Lodges,  labor  unions,  professions,  groups  of 
employees  from  large  factories  and  social 
organizations  afford  the  easiest  access.  If  the 
families  are  included  in  the  invitation,  there 
is  a  considerable  gain  in  interest  as  well  as 
numbers,  for  workingmen,  particularly,  are 
appreciative  of  any  interest  taken  in  their 
families. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  “talk  shop”  in  such 
services,  though  it  is  of  some  help  to  use  some 
well-known  expression  that  is  current  within 
the  group  as  the  basis  for  the  sermon  subject. 
Such  subjects  as  “Fares,  Please,”  for  street-car 
men,  “Busy  Lines”  for  telephone  people, 
“Good  News”  for  advertising  men,  and  “My 
Teacher”  for  school  teachers  will  suggest  the 
possibilities  of  many  others.  Care  must  be 
used  not  to  press  analogies  too  far,  nor  must 
the  regular  audience  be  forgotten. 

Such  services  must  give  the  impression  to 
the  visitors  that  they  have  a  very  real  part  in 
the  service  and  that  in  a  sense  it  belongs  to 
them.  The  regular  attendants  must  be  made 
to  feel  an  obligation  to  extend  hospitality  to 
the  strangers.  This  feeling  will  be  strength¬ 
ened  if  the  visitors  are  referred  to  as  “guests.” 
After  a  few  such  groups  have  visited  the  serv¬ 
ices  it  will  be  discovered  that  a  spirit  of  hospi¬ 
tality  is  developing  which  is  one  of  the  finest 


166 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


fruits  of  tlie  whole  plan,  for  this  attitude  will 
be  carried  throughout  the  whole  work  of  the 
church. 

The  feeling  of  partnership  can  be  developed 
by  asking  guests  to  furnish  part  of  the  pro¬ 
gram.  Musical  numbers  provided  by  visitors, 
public  introductions,  brief  addresses  by  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  groups  and  other  participation  will 
develop  this  sense  of  ownership  in  the  service. 
In  some  instances  the  collectors  have  been 
chosen  from  the  guests  when  time  permitted 
giving  a  few  necessary  instructions  in  advance 
of  the  service.  Sections  of  reserved  seats  are 
saved  for  guests  where  some  assurance  can  be 
had  as  to  the  number  expected. 

In  addition  to  the  visitors  who  come  with 
these  groups  there  is  usually  a  considerable 
company  of  outsiders  who  are  interested  in 
seeing  them.  Their  musical  organizations  will 
attract  a  following.  The  novelty  of  seeing  some 
of  these  groups  in  church  will  bring  crowds 
of  outsiders,  as  in  the  case  of  a  church  that 
was  packed  with  people  who  came  to  see  “two 
hundred  policemen  in  church.” 

The  presence  of  such  groups  in  the  service 
entitles  them  to  some  recognition  in  addition 
to  the  casual  references  which  may  occur  in 
the  sermon.  It  always  pleases  the  guests,  as 
well  as  the  home  folks,  if  the  visitors  can  be 


GROUP  SERVICES 


167 


introduced.  It  is  unwise  to  make  this  intro¬ 
duction  too  early  in  the  service,  lest  the  sense 
of  unity  within  the  congregation  shall  be 
broken  up.  Moreover,  this  introduction  must 
never  cause  embarrassment  to  the  newcomers. 
As  a  general  practice,  it  has  proven  most  effec¬ 
tive  to  ask  the  visitors  to  remain  standing  at 
the  close  of  the  hymn  just  preceding  the  ser¬ 
mon  while  the  balance  of  the  audience  is 
seated.  If  the  audience  will  start  applause  in 
honor  of  the  guests,  it  will  help  greatly,  for 
each  individual  has  the  feeling  that  the  ap¬ 
plause  is  on  his  own  personal  account  and 
feels  at  home  immediately. 

There  is  a  possibility  of  the  collection  being 
viewed  with  suspicion.  Sometimes  a  bit  of 
humor  in  introducing  it  will  be  of  value. 
When  street-car  men  are  present,  announce 
the  collection  of  the  “fares.”  If  telephone  peo¬ 
ple  are  present,  collect  the  “tolls.”  A  brief 
story  of  some  practical  service  rendered  un¬ 
selfishly  by  the  church  to  the  community  can 
be  told  to  justify  the  request  that  visitors  shall 
share  in  the  maintenance  of  the  church.  Peo¬ 
ple  are  usually  glad  to  support  an  institution 
that  deserves  support. 

A  variety  of  methods  may  be  used  in  estab¬ 
lishing  contacts  for  these  group  services.  In 
some  cases  it  may  come  directly  through  labor 


1G8 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 

unions.  The  writer  is  frequently  invited  to 
speak  before  such  groups,  and  always  watches 
for  an  opportunity  to  extend  an  invitation  to 
the  organization  to  attend  the  church  services 
at  some  future  date.  Members  of  the  church 
who  are  members  of  unions  can  often  be 
induced  to  secure  an  opening  for  the  pastor 
so  that  the  invitation  seems  a  natural  and 
friendly  evidence  of  interest.  If  the  organiza¬ 
tion  can  be  persuaded  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  work  with  the  pastor  in  arranging  the  serv¬ 
ice  and  interesting  the  crowd,  the  rest  is  easy 
sailing.  Letters  going  out  from  the  committee 
to  the  men  can  be  prepared  in  the  church  office, 
and  the  labor  for  the  committee  will  be  com¬ 
paratively  light.  Sometimes  a  return  card  is 
included  in  the  invitation  letter  by  which  those 
expecting  to  be  present  can  reserve  seats  and 
be  sure  of  having  them  waiting  for  them.  The 
committee,  in  such  cases,  secures  such  musi¬ 
cal  numbers  as  can  be  furnished  by  the  group 
and  arranges  for  someone  to  represent  the 
visitors  in  the  evening’s  program. 

It  is  sometimes  advisable  to  go  to  the  man¬ 
agement  of  a  factory,  store,  or  mill  and  ar¬ 
range  with  them  to  work  up  a  crowd  of  the 
employees.  The  danger  with  this  method  lies 
in  the  fact  that  men  are  liable  to  get  the  idea 
that  the  church  is  in  league  with  the  “boss’’ 

o 


GROUP  SERVICES 


169 

and  is  his  tool  in  “trying  to  put  something 
over.”  This  method  will  work  well,  however, 
where  there  is  a  strong  esprit  de  corps  within 
the  group  and  a  marked  loyalty  to  the  manage¬ 
ment.  It  works  best  in  police  departments, 
tire  departments,  among  school-teachers,  etc., 


TRAINMEN'S  CLUB 

NICOLLET  STATION 


Miirm®apol>'3,  Nov.  !0,  1919. 

The  Trainmen's  Co-operative  Committee  of  Nicollet  Station  unanimously  accepted 
the  invitation  of  Rev.  Roy  L.  Smith,  pastor  of  Simpson  Church,  (28th  St  and  1st 
Ave.  So  )  "The  House  of  Happiness"  to  make  Sunday  evening  Nov.  16  a  great  train¬ 
men's  night.  Our  band  will  be  there,  our  friends  will  be  there  and  we  will  be  there. 

This  invitation  is  ey tended  to  every  trainman  in  the  Twin  Cities.  Come  with 
us  lor  a  real  joy  night.  Bring  the  wile  and  kiddies.  We  ll  make  it  the  biggest  )oy 
night  of  the  winter.  Songs,  music,  friends  and  happiness. 

Address  by  Mr.  Smith.  -  "Fares  Please" 

Signed 

JOHN  J.  MOGARD 
A.  D.  STEVENS 
OLIVER  RING 
Committee. 


An  invitation  to  street  railway  employees,  prepared  and 
circulated  by  a  committee  from  the  men.  Nothing  can  be 
more  effective  if  the  committee  is  genuinely  interested. 

where  the  head  of  the  department  is  interested 
and  willing  to  lend  the  project  his  personal 
support. 

It  is  surprising  how  many  opportunities 
present  themselves  for  organizing  these  group 
services.  The  church  members  soon  become 
interested  and  offer  their  aid  in  arranging 
services  for  groups  with  which  they  are  asso- 


170 


CAPTUKING  CROWDS 


dated.  News  of  the  services  reaches  other 
organizations,  and  they  ask  for  evenings  of 
their  own.  Individuals  in  attendance  upon 
the  services  frequently  come  seeking  an  invi¬ 
tation  for  groups  in  which  they  are  interested. 

One  pastor  has  secured  the  mailing  lists  of 
a  large  number  of  clubs  and  societies  of  his 
town.  When  services  are  being  planned  of 
particular  interest  to  special  groups,  these 
lists  make  it  possible  to  send  advertising  di¬ 
rectly  through  the  mails.  Thus,  social  themes 
are  announced  to  business  men’s  clubs,  etc. 
Most  organizations  have  their  mailing  lists 
on  the  addressograph  and  envelopes  can  be  ad¬ 
dressed  with  little  trouble. 

A  woman  introduced  her  pastor  to  the 
superintendent  of  fifteen  hundred  telephone 
girls,  suggesting  that  a  service  be  arranged 
for  them.  The  plan  was  immediately  agreed 
to,  and  the  next  day  the  minister  met  twenty 
branch  managers  who  pledged  their  coopera¬ 
tion  in  securing  the  attendance  of  the  girls. 
A  male  quartet  and  an  orchestra  from  the 
telephone  employees  agreed  to  assist,  and  a 
chime-ringer  was  engaged  to  give  a  concert 
prelude  on  bells — very  appropriate  for  “tele¬ 
phone  night.”  Through  the  courtesy  of  the 
company  a  telephone  was  mounted  on  the  pul¬ 
pit  and  at  a  given  hour  a  long-distance  mes- 


Listening  to  the  “longest  sermon  ever  preached  in  Minne¬ 
apolis,”  when  Dr.  Frank  Mason  North  spoke  over  the  long 
distance  phone  to  the  audience  in  Simpson  Church.  Note 
the  ordinary  telephone  equipment  in  use  on  the  pulpit. 


172 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


sage  was  received  from  Dr.  Frank  Mason 
North,  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  in 
New  York  city.  This  message,  coming  across 
fifteen  hundred  miles  of  wire  and  repeated  to 
the  audience  sentence  by  sentence,  produced 
a  profound  impression  upon  the  people.  The 
daily  papers,  the  next  day,  gave  generous 
space  in  reporting  the  “longest  sermon  ever 
preached  in  Minneapolis”  and  in  this  way  the 
message  reached  hundreds  of  thousands  of 


people  who  were  not  in  the  service. 

The  sermon  consisted  of  a  series  of  telephone 
analogies  under  the  subject,  “Number,  Please,” 
based  upon  the  text  “Whom  seek  ye?”  (John 
18.  4-5).  This  is  the  question  that  every  man 
has  to  face — “What  is  the  chief  objective  of 
life — what  is  your  aim,  your  goal?”  Some¬ 
times  we  call  and  get  the  wrong  number.  The 
mistake  may  be  a  slight  one,  but  it  utterly  de¬ 


feats  us  in  our  effort  to  reach  our  friend.  So 


many  a  person  seeking  happiness  gets  only 
laughter,  jollity  or  revelry — it  is  a  “wrong 
number  ”  Sometimes  we  call  our  friends  and 
find  the  line  is  busy.  Sometimes  God  calls 
us  to  high  and  noble  work  and  finds  us  busy 
with  inconsequential  things — he  cannot  reach 
ns.  We  sometimes  discover  some  one  listen¬ 
ing  in  on  the  wire  and  we  are  very  careful  of 
that  conversation,  but  we  may  be  assured  that 


GROUP  SERVICES 


1  7Q 

1  ( o 

Gocl  is  listening  in  on  every  conversation, 
a  partner  to  every  contract,  a  witness  to 
every  resolution  and  desire.  Just  as  the 
telephone  receiver  brings  our  friend  to  our 
very  ear,  so  does  prayer  bring  the  soul  to  God. 
The  sermon  closed  with  the  announcement 
that  a  “long-distance  call”  had  come  to  every 
member  of  the  congregation — “Come  unto  me 
all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest.”  That  call  came  from  the 
Father.  God  is  waiting  on  the  line  for  every 
penitent  who  is  willing  to  call  to  him. 

A  street-car  man  agreed  to  arrange  for  the 
pastor  to  speak  to  some  of  the  employees  at 
one  of  their  business  meetings.  At  the  close 
of  the  meeting  an  invitation  was  extended  to 
the  men  to  “bring  the  wife  and  kiddies”  to 
church  on  Sunday  night  and  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  complete  arrangements.  The 
employees’  band  was  secured,  printed  invita¬ 
tions  were  sent  to  every  man  in  the  service 
along  with  his  pay  envelope,  the  president  of 
the  company  was  invited  by  the  men  to  be 
present  with  them,  and  the  pastor  preached  on 
the  theme,  “Fares,  Please,”  which  was  another 
way  of  saying,  “Every  man  has  to  pay  his  way 
through  the  world  in  honest  service,  or  be  a 
‘deadhead.’  ”  The  men  at  the  close  of  a  hymn 
were  invited  to  remain  standing  that  they 


174 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


might  be  introduced,  and  while  they  stood  the 
people  applauded  and  the  pastor  extended 
thanks  on  behalf  of  the  public  for  the  courte¬ 
ous  service  the  men  rendered  day  after  day. 
A  representative  of  the  men,  elected  by  them, 
occupied  the  pulpit  with  the  pastor  and  re¬ 
sponded  to  the  word  of  thanks  in  a  most 
gracious  manner,  explaining  some  of  the  serv¬ 
ice  rendered  by  the  men  of  which  the  public 
was  unaware,  such  as  the  clearing  of  the 
streets  for  traffic  in  times  of  storm.  Several 
families  have  been  received  into  the  church  as 
a  direct  result  of  that  service,  and  hundreds 
of  people  have  been  directed  to  the  church  by 
these  street-car  men,  every  one  of  whom  is  a 
booster  for  the  church  that  invited  them  to 
come  to  worship. 

A  call  was  made  upon  “the  chief  of  the  fire 
department  in  which  the  plan  for  a  service 
for  his  men  was  outlined.  He  suggested  a 
series  of  services  for  public  servants  and 
pledged  the  cooperation  of  his  department. 
The  firemen,  the  policemen,  the  school¬ 
teachers,  and  the  telephone  girls  were  invited 
for  successive  Sunday  evenings.  All  re¬ 
sponded  with  enthusiasm  and  organized  to 
bring  their  people  out.  The  firemen  brought 
their  orchestra,  the  police  their  band,  the  tele¬ 
phone  people  their  quartet,  and  a  high-school 


SIMPSON  METHODIST  CHURCH 


Twenty-three  hundred  school-teachers  received  this  invitation  distributed  by  the  principals  of 
eighty-three  ward  schools.  Nearly  five  hundred  teachers  attended. 


17G 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


chorus  of  one  hundred  sang  for  the  school¬ 
teachers,  assisted  by  a  public-school  orchestra 
of  thirty  pieces.  The  chief  of  police,  the  super¬ 
intendent  of  schools,  and  the  chief  of  the  tire* 
department  spoke  from  the  pulpit  in  behalf 
of  their  respective  groups.  The  newspapers 
quoted  the  sermons  as  well  as  the  words  of 
the  special  speakers,  and  the  church  was 
packed  to  capacity  each  night. 

Some  of  the  results  of  the  services  were  most 
heartening.  The  fire  chief  proved  to  be  the 
son  of  a  pioneer  preacher,  and  his  address 
was  full  of  tenderness  and  feeling  as  he  re¬ 
ferred  to  his  father’s  work.  A  few  days  after 
the  service  he  called  the  pastor,  asking  him  to 
visit  one  of  liis  men  who  was  desperately  ill, 
and  as  a  result  a  warm  friendship  sprang  up 
between  the  two  men,  the  minister  and  the  fire 
chief,  which  was  of  great  value  to  each.  A 
police  captain  suggested  that  the  minister  be 
made  a  special  member  of  the  pol  ice  depart¬ 
ment,  and  it  was  done.  No  badge  means  more 
to  that  preacher  than  his  police  star.  Mem¬ 
bers  of  the  department  have  come  to  the 
church  for  personal  help  on  more  than  one 
occasion  and  the  congregations  had  the  chance 
of  seeing  these  public  servants  as  personal 
friends.  The  superintendent  of  the  telephone 
girls  became  a  member  of  the  church  and  is 


GROUP  SERVICES 


177 


now  a  department  superintendent  in  the  Sun¬ 
day  school. 

Such  a  service  is  not  complete  without  a 
^display  of  interest  in,  and  appreciation  for, 
the  daily  work  of  the  men.  The  firemen  were 
thanked  for  guarding  the  homes  of  the  people 
while  they  were  at  worship.  The  policemen 
were  spoken  of  as  “soldiers  of  the  common 
peace/’  the  telephone  girls  were  thanked  for 
their  patience  under  difficulties.  The  wives 
of  the  policemen  and  firemen  were  reminded 
that  Christian  people  frequently  prayed  God’s 
blessing  upon  their  men  as  they  faced  peril 
and  hazard  in  the  performance  of  their  duty. 
More  than  one  man,  with  his  wife,  came  at  the 
close  of  the  service  to  express  his  thanks  for 
this  new  evidence  of  interest.  One  man  said : 
“I  have  often  wondered  if  my  work  in  life  was 
worth  while.  This  service,  to-night,  will  give 
me  new  courage  for  my  work  all  the  rest  of  my 
days.” 

Many  shops  and  factories  hold  noonday 
meetings  of  an  educational  and  religious  na¬ 
ture.  These  are  usually  organized  under  the 
direction  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  The  men  of  the 
Minneapolis  Steel  and  Machinery  Company 
were  invited  at  the  close  of  such  a  meeting  to 
come  to  the  services  at  the  church  the  follow¬ 
ing  Sunday  evening.  Arrangements  had  been 


178 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


made  beforehand  for  the  presence  of  their 
band  and  some  vocal  music  from  some  talented 
young  women  employed  in  the  office.  The 
invitation  was  accepted,  an  impromptu  com¬ 
mittee  was  appointed,  posters  were  put  up  all 
over  the  plant,  and  on  the  stormiest  night  of 
the  winter  four  hundred  men  came  an  average 
of  three  miles  each  to  the  church  because  it 
was  their  service.  The  storm  was  so  heavy 
that  street-car  traffic  on  many  lines  was  sus¬ 
pended  and  the  drummer  in  the  band  plowed 
through  the  snow  for  more  than  two  miles, 
dragging  his  drum  to  church !  The  sermon 
was  on  the  subject,  “Men  or  Machines,”  and 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary  who  had  handled  the 
arrangements  inside  the  shop  declared  that 
the  service  was  the  subject  of  conversation  for 
many  weeks  afterward.  The  men  of  that  shop 
are,  to-day,  among  the  most  loyal  friends  the 
pastor  lias  in  the  entire  city  and  their  calls 
for  personal  services  such  as  weddings, 
funerals,  baptisms,  etc.,  are  matters  of  almost 
weekly  occurrence.  Several  families  were 
brought  into  church  membership  as  a  direct 
result. 

Lodges  frequently  ask  for  special  evenings. 
Commercial  organizations  which  are  to  hold 
conventions  in  the  city  frequently  extend  invi¬ 
tations  to  their  visiting  members  to  attend  the 

o 


GROUP  SERVICES 


179 


services  of  the  church  while  in  the  city.  De¬ 
partment  store  employees,  industrial  groups, 
business  and  professional  schools,  social  clubs, 
and  all  such  organizations  can  be  persuaded  to 
come  en  masse  with  very  little  trouble. 

Pastors  in  rural  communities  or  country 
towns  will  find  lodges,  granges,  schools,  geo¬ 
graphical  divisions,  etc.,  offer  opportunities. 
One  ingenious  preacher  held  a  service  for  the 
farmers,  another  for  the  dairymen,  another 
for  the  “hired  hands/’  another  for  the  school 
children,  etc.  The  services  of  county  officials, 
county  agents,  school  directors,  etc.,  can  be 
secured.  In  another  instance  a  series  of  serv¬ 
ices  were  announced  just  before  the  election 
on  “Who  Should  the  Democrats  Nominate?” 
“What  if  the  Republicans  Win?”  “Would  a 
Socialist  Victory  Make  Any  Difference?”  etc., 
all  the  subjects  emphasizing  the  moral  signi¬ 
ficance  of  elections  as  expressions  of  the  ideal¬ 
ism.  Great  care  must  be  exercised  in  such  a 
series  not  to  make  the  discussions  political. 

Many  such  groups  are  to  be  found  in  every 
community.  Simpson  Methodist  Church,  Min¬ 
neapolis,  lias  entertained  the  following  typical 
groups  during  the  space  of  two  years :  Street¬ 
car  employees,  telephone  employees,  steel 
shopmen,  railway  trainmen,  G.  A.  R.,  frater¬ 
nal  orders,  liigh-school  groups,  business  col- 


180 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


lege  groups,  department-store  employees,  Min¬ 
neapolis  Fire  Department,  Minneapolis  Police 
Department,  Rotary  Club,  Iviwanis  Club,  Min¬ 
neapolis  Business  Men’s  Association,  Min¬ 
neapolis  School-Teachers,  Letter  Carriers’ 
Association,  American  Legion,  Sons  of 
Veterans,  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Gideons,  United  Com¬ 
mercial  Travelers,  The  Scotch  Clansmen,  the 
city  aldermen,  the  State  Legislature,  the  Min¬ 
neapolis  Society  for  the  Blind,  the  Advertis¬ 
ing  Association,  Civic  and  Commerce  Trade 
Tourists,  State  Hardware  Dealers,  etc. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
SEASONAL  SERVICES 

The  first  problem  in  successful  salesman¬ 
ship  is  to  secure  friendly  interest.  This  is 
best  done  by  proceeding  from  some  established 
interest  somewhat  related.  In  the  salesman¬ 
ship  of  preaching  the  problem  is  the  same — 
interest  is  most  easily  developed  by  proceed¬ 
ing  from  some  established  interest. 

In  appealing  to  the  masses  it  is  necessary 
to  know  the  interests  that  occupy  the  public 
mind  and  appeal  for  a  hearing  by  promising 
to  make  some  contribution  to  that  popular 
interest.  At  least  two  methods  are  open  to 
the  alert  preacher:  he  may  preach  on  topics 
of  the  day,  giving  them  a  Christian  analysis 
and  treatment,  or  he  may  preach  sermons 
which  have  a  peculiar  seasonal  interest.  The 
danger  in  the  first  instance  lies  in  the  fact 
that  the  search  for  some  topic  of  timely  inter¬ 
est  frequently  leads  to  discussions  of  scandal, 
crime,  outlawry,  or  social  disturbances  con¬ 
cerning  which  the  preacher  lias  no  expert  in¬ 
formation.  His  opinions,  in  such  case,  have 

181 


182 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


little  value.  The  safest,  arid  more  profitable 
method  is  the  one  which  adapts  the  message 
to  the  season. 

Seasonal  interests  are  usually  grouped  about 
certain  days,  such  as  Armistice  Day,  New 
Year’s,  Independence  Day,  etc.  In  running 
through  a  year’s  calendar  a  large  number  of 
such  days  appear  which  are  of  universal  inter¬ 
est,  and  local  history  and  custom  furnish  addi¬ 
tional  occasions  which  can  be  appropriated  by 
the  pulpit  with  great  profit.  The  various 
seasons  present  special  opportunities  when 
certain  themes  are  appropriate.  One  highly 
successful  pastor  has  preached  a  series  of  ser¬ 
mons  each  spring  on  “The  Great  Love  Stories 
of  the  Bible.”  Another  has  used  summer  Sun¬ 
day  evenings  for  “Nature  Sermons”  illustrated 
by  stereopticon  slides  and  moving  pictures. 

To  get  the  full  advantage  of  the  seasonal 
opportunities  a  preaching  program  must  be 
planned  to  cover  the  entire  year.  A  city  pas¬ 
tor  who  has  been  unusually  successful  in 
attracting  great  audiences  week  after  week 
attributes  a  large  part  of  his  success  to  the 
fact  that  lie  plans  his  preaching  program  in 
great  detail  for  at  least  six  months  in  advance. 
All  special  days  are  taken  into  consideration 
and  features,  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  are 
arranged  months  ahead.  Such  planning  in- 


SEASONAL  SERVICES 


183 


sures  a  better-balanced  pulpit  policy  as  well 
as  adequate  preparation  and  attractive  fea¬ 
tures. 

A  study  of  the  anniversaries  of  one  year 
which  attract  widespread  attention  reveals  the 
following  days  which  can  be  profitably  ob¬ 
served  by  any  church,  metropolitan  or  rural : 
New  Year’s,  Burns’  Birthday,  Lincoln’s  Birth¬ 
day,  Valentine’s  Bay,  Washington’s  Birth¬ 
day,  Inaugural  Sunday  (on  years  when  a  new 
President  is  inaugurated),  Saint  Patrick’s 
Day,  April  Fool’s,  May  Day,  Mother’s  Day, 
Memorial  Sunday,  Bastile  Day,  Flag  Day, 
Independence  Day,  Labor  Sunday,  Thanksgiv¬ 
ing,  Roosevelt’s  Birthday,  International  Bible 
Sunday,  Good  Literature  Sunday,  besides  the 
great  Christian  Festivals  of  Easter  and  Christ¬ 
mas.  Each  denomination  has  its  own  special 
days  including  Children’s  Day,  Rally  Sun¬ 
days,  Educational  Day,  Luther  Sunday,  etc. 
Pentecost  Sunday  is  not  widely  observed  by 
the  non-liturgical  denominations  though  it  has 
peculiar  significance  in  the  Christian  calendar 
and  can  be  made  very  popular. 

In  addition  to  these  special  days — not  all 
of  which  can  be  observed  in  any  one  year,  of 
course — there  are  local  occasions  which  can 
be  made  very  popular.  School  night  on  the 
first  Sunday  following  the  opening  of  school 


184 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


in  the  fall,  Anniversary  Sunday  in  com¬ 
memoration  of  the  founding  of  the  local 
church,  “Harvest  Home  Sunday’7  during  the 
autumn  for  agricultural  communities,  Home¬ 
coming  Sunday,  Election  Sunday  and  serv¬ 
ices  in  commemoration  of  local  history  are 
among  the  special  days  that  have  local  asso¬ 
ciations. 

Many  special  occasions  can  be  developed 
which  will  have  a  popular  appeal.  A 
“Mothers  and  Sons  Night”  can  be  arranged 
when  boys  are  urged  to  “make  a  date  with 
mother.”  A  “Fathers  and  Daughters  Night" 
could  follow  a  few  weeks  later.  If  there  is  a 
foreign  constituency  in  the  community,  an 
“International  Night”  will  he  an  interesting 
and  profitable  occasion.  If  the  city  is  electing 
a  mayor  or  other  public  officials,  the  success¬ 
ful  candidates  can  be  invited  as  special  guests 
for  the  first  Sunday  evening  following  the  elec¬ 
tion.  Such  a  service  presents  a  fine  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  preach  on  Christian  citizenship  and 
its  responsibilities.  The  opening  of  a  new 
school  building  or  other  public  building  can 
be  made  to  serve  the  purpose  of  the  church  if 
those  in  charge  of  the  building,  or  those  who 
are  to  occupy  it,  are  the  invited  guests  of 
honor  in  a  Sunday-evening  service.  The  selec¬ 
tion  of  a  new  school  superintendent,  chief  of 


SEASONAL  SERVICES 


185 


police,  or  other  public  servant  can  be  made 
significant  by  the  preacher  who  invites  the 
official  to  appear  with  him  in  the  pulpit  and 
make  a  public  statement  to  the  people  concern¬ 
ing  his  new  responsibilities.  The  moral  effect 
on  such  an  official  in  making  his  first  public 
statements  from  a  pulpit  cannot  be  other  than 
good. 

A  presidential  election  always  stirs  up  great 
interest  and  on  one  occasion  a  pastor  an¬ 
nounced  an  “Election  Service”  on  the  Sun¬ 
day  evening  immediately  preceding.  The  ser¬ 
mon  subject  was  “My  Candidate,”  in  which  the 
preacher  undertook  to  nominate  Jesus  Christ 
for  the  mastery  of  every  man’s  life.  A  saxo¬ 
phone  band  was  engaged  to  render  special 
patriotic  music  and  a  male  quartet  sang  the 
anthems.  A  young  college  woman  spoke  for 
four  minutes  on  the  right  of  suffrage.  Each 
Presidential  and  vice-Presidential  candidate, 
as  well  as  the  gubernatorial  candidates,  had 
been  asked  to  send  a  telegram  to  the  pastor 
which  would  be  read  to  the  congregation.  No 
candidate  is  going  to  miss  an  opportunity  to 
speak  to  fifteen  hundred  church  people  on 
the  eve  of  election,  and  that  pastor  has  a  fine 
collection  of  telegrams  from  the  candidates 
which  he  is  saving  as  a  souvenir  of  the  service. 
The  newspapers  were  greatly  interested  as  well 


186 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


as  the  people  and  gave  the  service  considerable 
space,  with  the  result  that  long  before  the 
service  opened  every  seat  was  filled  and  crowds 
were  turned  away. 

An  invitation  was  extended  to  the  labor 
unions  of  the  city  to  attend  a  service  on  Labor 
Sunday.  A  band  from  an  industrial  plant  fur¬ 
nished  the  music,  a  laboring  man  sang  special 
solos,  the  decorations  were  significant,  includ¬ 
ing  an  anvil,  carpenter’s  bench,  and  several 
banners  from  labor  headquarters,  and  a  promi¬ 
nent  labor  leader  spoke  for  five  minutes  repre¬ 
senting  the  men.  Every  laboring  man  in  the 
church  membership  was  urged  to  go  before  his 
union  and  extend  a  personal  invitation,  and 
the  pastor  appeared  before  several  in  which 
the  church  had  no  representation.  The  ser¬ 
mon,  “The  Church’s  Message  to  Modern  In¬ 
dustry/’  supplemented  by  this  show  of  hospi¬ 
tality,  made  many  friends  for  the  church  and 
resulted  in  the  regular  attendance  of  a  number 
of  families.  In  every  case  the  invitation  urged 
the  men  to  “come  without  dressing  up/’  and 
the  pastor  was  careful  to  see  to  it  that  the 
service  had  little  of  formality  and  stiffness  in 
it. 

In  1908  Anne  Jarvis,  of  Philadelphia, 
began  agitating  the  observance  of  Mother’s 
Day,  and  in  the  brief  space  of  fifteen  years  the 


SEASONAL  SERVICES 


187 


second  Sunday  in  May  has  come  to  be  inter¬ 
nationally  observed.  The  success  of  a 
Mother’s-Day  service  depends  largely  upon 
the  variety  that  enters  into  the  program. 
There  is  a  certain  sameness  in  the  message 
that  must  be  presented  and  the  variety  must 
be  provided  through  other  features.  Music,  of 
course,  offers  the  best  opportunity.  A  group 
of  forty  aged  women  from  an  old  people’s 
Home  were  present  in  one  service,  lending 
charm  and  tenderness  to  the  occasion.  One  of 
these  dear  old  ladies,  ninety-three  years  of 
age,  recited  a  poem.  Another,  with  years  of 
choir  experience  from  an  early  day,  sang  a 
solo  ;  another  recited  one  of  the  psalms  as  a 
Scripture  lesson,  and  the  entire  group  sang 
some  old  hymns  like 

“There  is  a  land  of  pure  delight 
Where  saints  immortal  reign, 

Infinite  day  excludes  the  night 
And  pleasures  banish  pain. 

There  everlasting  spring  abides 
And  never  withering  flowers. 

Death  like  a  narrow  sea  divides 
That  heavenly  land  from  ours.” 

The  entire  audience  Avas  in  tears  when  the 
singing  finished. 

Another  pastor  secured  two  choirs,  one  com¬ 
posed  of  the  daughters  of  the  other.  The 
mothers  Avere  stationed  in  the  choir  loft 


188 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


and  the  daughters  in  the  gallery  singing 
antiphonally.  A  mothers-and-sons  choir  could 
be  made  up  the  same  way.  One  pastor  ar¬ 
ranged  a  mother’s  service  in  the  morning  and 
a  father’s  service  in  the  evening.  Mothers 
were  asked  to  “sit  with  their  children” 
in  one  such  service,  and  in  another  the 
church  endeavored  to  have  “every  family 
present  and  sitting  together.”  A  mother  and 
two  daughters  have  been  accustomed  to  fur¬ 
nish  instrumental  music  for  a  Mother’s-Day 
service  in  one  church  and  their  music  has  be¬ 
come  a  regular  feature,  without  which  the  pro¬ 
gram  would  be  incomplete.  Nothing  could  be 
more  beautiful  than  the  sight  of  this  talented 
mother  and  her  two  brilliant  daughters  en¬ 
trancing  the  audience  with  their  music. 

A  feature  appropriate  to  Mother’s  Day  but 
useful  any  time  was  presented  one  Sunday 
evening  as  an  evangelistic  appeal.  A  fireplace 
had  been  built  on  the  platform  with  an  electric 
fire,  a  “rag  rug”  in  front,  an  old  family  Bible 
on  the  mantle,  and  some  old-time  photographs 
for  decorations.  The  lights  were  turned  out 
and  a  red  spotlight  turned  on  the  homelike 
setting  as  a  gray-haired  woman  with  a  beauti¬ 
ful  soprano  voice,  dressed  in  a  house-gown, 
slipped  into  the  area  of  light,  took  down  the 
Bible  and  a  photograph  of  a  boy  from  the 


SEASONAL  SERVICES 


189 


mantle  and  seated  herself  in  an  old-fashioned 
rocking  chair.  A  few  leaves  of  the  Bible  were 
turned  and  then  she  began  to  read  aloud  one 
of  the  psalms  as  if  in  evening  prayer.  The 
Scripture  finished  she  began  singing  with  ex¬ 
quisite  tenderness.  When  the  song  was  fin¬ 
ished  she  rose  quietly,  knelt  beside  her  chair 
as  if  in  prayer,  and  the  pastor’s  voice,  coming 
from  the  darkness  began  the  evening  petition. 
The  light  faded  out  as  he  prayed  and  the 
woman  slipped  silently  off  the  platform  un¬ 
noticed.  When  the  prayer  was  finished  and 
the  lights  turned  on  the  singer  had  disap¬ 
peared  but  many  a  lonely  girl  and  indifferent 
lad  had  been  deeply  touched  by  the  sight  of 
this  praying  mother.  There  is  no  lack  of  songs 
for  the  mother  for  such  an  occasion,  but  “For 
You  I  Am  Praying”  seems  very  appropriate. 

Lincoln  Sunday  has  unusual  interest  for  the 
public.  On  one  occasion  it  was  possible  to 
secure  the  help  of  an  old  soldier  who  had 
served  in  the  telegraph  corps  of  the  Union 
army  and  was  the  telegraph  operator  who  had 
notified  Mr.  Lincoln  of  his  election.  He  told 
his  story  with  rare  artistry  and  the  announce¬ 
ment  that  he  would  speak  crowded  the  church 
until  it  would  not  hold  half  the  people  who 
sought  an  entrance.  Any  man  who  ever  saw 
or  heard  Lincoln  will  make  an  acceptable 


190 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


feature  in  a  brief  talk.  Old  soldiers,  if  prop¬ 
erly  coached,  frequently  make  very  popular 
speakers  for  a  Lincoln  service  and  are  usually 
glad  to  participate.  Negro  choirs  or  soloists 
are  unexcelled  if  obtainable.  One  pastor 
secured  a  thousand  cotton  pods  from  Georgia 
as  souvenirs  for  the  audience;  another  gave 
away  printed  portraits  suitable  for  framing; 
another  used  flags.  The  American  Legion  in 
one  community  arranged  for  automobiles 
to  transport  the  veterans  to  and  from  the 
service.  In  Minneapolis  there  lives  a  man 
who  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  Mr.  Lin¬ 
coln,  and  he  was  invited  to  occupy  a  seat  of 
honor  in  one  service.  It  seemed  that  the  great 
Emancipator  himself  was  present,  so  perfect 
was  the  likeness  in  feature  and  dress.  A  pastor 
in  a  State  capital  invited  the  State  Legislature 
to  attend  the  service  in  a  body  and  sent  cars  to 
their  hotels  after  them.  The  announcement  of 
this  feature  attracted  a  record  audience  and 
the  opportunity  to  preach  to  this  body  of  men 
was  significant. 

Washington’s  birthday  does  not  furnish  so 
many  intimate  features  but  many  opportuni¬ 
ties  can  be  made  by  the  alert  preacher.  The 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  will 
always  assist  and  their  cooperation  will  sug¬ 
gest  many  ideas.  A  number  of  patriotic  mov- 


SEASONAL  SERVICES 


191 


ing  pictures  of  an  historical  character  are 
available  which  make  excellent  aides.  School 
children  in  drills,  songs,  tableaux,  recitations, 
and  pageants  can  add  much  to  such  a  serv¬ 
ice.  Patriotic  societies  will  welcome  a  special 
invitation,  and  foreign-born  citizens  can  be  fea¬ 
tured  in  testimonies  to  the  way  in  which  Wash¬ 
ington’s  dream  for  America  has  been  realized. 
Sermonic  material  is  abundant.  Historic  flags 

and  other  relics  can  be  displayed  to  better 
* 

advantage  on  this  occasion  than  almost  any 
other. 

A  Fourth-of-July  service  was  arranged  with 
a  fireman’s  band  to  furnish  the  special  music. 
The  city  council,  recently  elected,  was  invited 
to  attend  the  service  and  occupy  reserved 
seats.  The  governor  of  the  State  was  given 
half  of  the  time  for  an  address  on  the  mean¬ 
ing  of  American  principles  and  ideals  of  gov¬ 
ernment,  the  pastor  taking  the  other  half  of 
the  time  in  a  discussion  of  the  obligations  of 
citizenship.  The  audience  could  not  be  accom¬ 
modated  even  though  the  service  was  held  in 
the  heated  season  when  automobiling  was 
extremely  alluring. 

As  a  simple  object  lesson  through  which  to 
preach  the  true  significance  of  Independence 
Day  a  giant  firecracker  can  be  constructed. 
The  comment  should  undertake  to  draw  the 


192 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


mind  of  the  people  away  from  the  idea  of  the 
day  as  one  dedicated  to  noise  and  powder. 
Inside  the  firecracker  the  preacher  can  find  a 
school  book,  symbolical  of  the  right  of  the 
American  child  to  an  education,  a  folded  ballot 
as  symbolical  of  the  right  of  suffrage  in  a  true 
democracy,  a  Bible  as  a  reminder  of  our  free¬ 
dom  of  conscience,  and  a  variety  of  other 
symbols.  The  loosing  of  a  pure  white  pigeon 
from  the  firecracker,  emblematic  of  our  desire 
for  peace,  would  be  a  distinct  surprise  and  an 
impressive  feature. 

American  Legions  will  furnish  ushers  and 
collectors,  as  well  as  occasional  musicians.  A 
high-scliool  student  can  be  persuaded  to  sketch 
a  picture  of  the  Liberty  Bell  as  part  of  the 
decorations.  A  chorus  composed  of  repre¬ 
sentatives  from  every  racial  group  in  the  com¬ 
munity  would  create  wide  interest.  Muni¬ 
cipal  or  State  officers  would  be  appropriate 
guests. 

The  life  of  Saint  Patrick,  regardless  of  his 
Roman  Catholic  connections,  holds  many  les¬ 
sons  for  the  use  of  the  Protestant  pulpit,  and 
the  Irish  green  can  feature  the  decorations. 
Something  of  the  history  of  Protestant  Ulster 
would  be  an  appropriate  feature  of  the  sermon. 
April  Fool’s  Day  was  recognized  in  one  pul¬ 
pit  as  the  preacher  talked  on  the  text,  “I  have 


SEASONAL  SERVICES 


193 


played  the  fool”  (1  Samuel  26.  21).  Interna¬ 
tional  Bible  Sunday  was  featured  by  the  use 
of  a  giant  book,  so  constructed  that  certain 
symbols  could  be  taken  out  of  it.  As  the 
preacher  talked  he  drew  from  the  Bible  a 
lighted  candle,  indicative  of  the  light  that 
comes  into  the  world  through  the  Bible,  a  pair 
of  smoked  glasses  betokening  the  new  vision 
given  to  men  through  reading  its  pages,  a  silk 
flag  representing  the  Christian  ideals  of 
citizenship,  a  wedding  certificate  symbolical 
of  the  new  standards  of  home  life  taught  by 
Jesus,  a  purse  symbolizing  Christian  generos¬ 
ity,  etc. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  NEW  CHURCH  BELL 

Church  advertising  is  the  modern  successor 
of  the  old-fashioned  church  bell  that  called  us 
to  worship  in  the  days  of  our  youth.  It  is  a 
highly  developed  instrument  of  modern  busi¬ 
ness  appropriated  by  the  church  for  the  ex¬ 
tension  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Just  as  adver¬ 
tising  is  known  to  the  business  man  as  sales¬ 
manship  on  paper,  so,  to  the  minister,  it  is 
evangelism  on  paper. 

The  scientific  principles  of  advertising  are 
identical  whether  the  printed  appeal  is  in  be¬ 
half  of  furniture  or  ideas.  The  Avhole  purpose 
of  the  advertisement  is  to  influence  the  cus¬ 
tomer  to  buy.  If  printer’s  ink  can  break  down 
prejudice  against  oleomargarine,  sell  automo¬ 
biles  and  talcum  powder,  attract  crowds  of 
tourists  to  unheard-of  summer  resorts,  or  turn 
the  tide  of  elections,  then  there  must  be  some 
power  in  advertising  through  which  the  min¬ 
ister  may  capture  a  crowd  for  the  most  won¬ 
derful  message  ever  given  from  human  lips — 
the  “ gospel ”  means  “ good  news  ” 

194 


195 


THE  NEW  CHURCH  BELL 

The  first  principle  by  which  the  minister 
must  be  guided  is  this :  The  advertisement  must 
be  written  for  the  man  who  reads  it.  His 
prejudices,  training,  preferences,  interests, 
vocabulary,  social  connections,  and  personal 
psychology  must  have  the  most  careful  con¬ 
sideration.  Seasoned  churchgoers  will  be 
attracted  by  one  type  of  advertisement,  but 
the  man  on  the  street  must  be  reached  through 
an  appeal  to  his  interests. 

It  is  not  always  true  that  the  thing  most 
interesting  to  the  preacher  will  be  most  inter¬ 
esting  to  the  people.  The  discussion  of  some 
problem  of  theology  might  be  the  most  attrac¬ 
tive  theme  for  him,  while  the  man  on  the  street 
is  interested  in  life.  The  preacher  can  discuss 
theology  from  the  pulpit,  but  if  he  wants 
crowds  to  hear  him,  lie  must  make  them  think 
he  is  solving  some  deep  problem  of  life.  In 
other  words,  in  writing  an  advertisement,  that 
phase  of  the  sermon  must  be  emphasized  which 
will  be  most  interesting  to  the  common  'people . 

The  second  rule  is  immediately  apparent : 
A  church  advertisement  must  make  the  church 
service  appear  interesting .  This  may  be  done 
by  appealing  to  popular  curiosity,  love  of 
beauty,  need  of  sympathy,  desire  for  knowl¬ 
edge,  some  special  or  seasonal  interest,  or 
directly  to  the  reason.  All  men  are  more  or 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


196 

less  susceptible  to  each  of  these  appeals,  but 
it  is  probable  that  the  first  three  will  awaken 
a  more  general  response  on  the  part  of  the 
multitudes.  The  preacher  who  sits  down  care¬ 
fully  to  analyze  his  service  in  order  to  make 
the  most  effective  appeal  to  the  interests  of 
the  people  through  advertising,  will  soon  find 
that  the  study  is  having  a  very  humanizing 
effect  on  his  preaching.  It  is  sometimes  a 
question  as  to  which  grows  the  more  through 
advertising,  audience  or  preacher. 

Comparatively  few  ministers  have  had  busi¬ 
ness  training  that  would  fit  them  as  adver¬ 
tisers.  An  earnest  layman,  familiar  with 
advertising  principles,  may  be  able  to  render 
timely  assistance,  but  lie  must  have  the  co¬ 
operation  of  the  preacher.  The  two,  working 
together,  make  an  ideal  combination.  But 
whoever  does  it,  the  church  must  be  advertised. 

Every  piece  of  church  advertising  should  en¬ 
deavor  to  burn  three  facts  into  the  conscious¬ 
ness  of  the  community :  ( 1 )  the  name  of  the 
church,  (2)  the  location  of  the  church,  and 
(3)  some  phrase  descriptive  of  the  church, 
generally  called  a  slogan.  Too  many  churches 
take  it  for  granted  that  everyone  knows  where 
the  building  is  to  be  found,  whereas  it  would 
be  humiliating  to  know  how  few  people  are 
able  intelligently  to  direct  strangers  how  to 


THE  NEW  CHURCH  BELL 


197 


find  it.  Saint  Paul  Methodist  Church, 
Chicago,  used  a  “Trade-mark”  design  which 
gave  the  address  of  the  church,  its  name  and 
the  slogan,  “In  the  Heart  of  the  Great  West 
Side.”  Simpson  Church,  Minneapolis,  has 
used  a  drawing  representing 
the  church  lighted  up  at 
night,  with  the  words,  “The 
House  of  Happiness”  stand¬ 
ing  out  against  the  sky.  The 
phrase  “We  Specialize  in 
Helpfulness”  is  featured  on 
every  piece  of  advertising 
that  goes  out.  These  two 
p  h  r  a  s  e  s  have  completely 
transformed  the  attitude  of 
the  entire  city  toward  this 
particular  church. 

Church  advertising  should 
do  two  things  :  (1)  develop 

good  will  toward  the  church 
and  (2)  attract  people  to  particular  services. 
In  view  of  the  prejudice,  suspicions,  indiffer¬ 
ence,  and  misunderstanding  that  exists  toward 
the  church  in  an  average  city  (if  not  equally  so 
in  the  country),  the  problem  of  good-will 
advertising  is  difficult  and  important.  Multi¬ 
tudes  of  people  have  mistaken  our  modesty 
for  indifference,  our  seriousness  for  joyless- 


This  small  cut,  il¬ 
lustrating  the  church 
lighted  for  evening 
service,  is  used  much 
like  a  “trade  mark,” 
on  advertising,  bul¬ 
letins,  letterheads, 
etc.,  with  fine  effect. 


Start  the  New  Year  Right 

Miiiffliiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim 

A  Happy  Sunday  Night,  December  28th 
at  SIMPSON  CHURCH 

■  THE  HOUSE  OF  HAPPINESS” 

28th  Street  and  1st  Avenue  South 

Church  Decorated  with  Hundreds  of  Lighted  Candles. 

Beautiful  Candle  Lighting  Service.  JOY  JOY 
Chorus  Choir  :  r  Heartwarming  Singing  : ;  Happiness 

KARL  SCHEURER,  Violinist 

Former  Concert  Master  with  the  Minneapolis  Symphony  Orchestra,  now  Head  o(  the  Violin 
Department  of  the  University  of  Minnesota 

SERMON  SUBJECT:  "If  I  Had  Last  Year  To  Live  OVER  AGAIN" 


SUNDAY  MORNING — Communion  Service — Special  Music. 
SERMON  SUBJECT:  "Heaven's  Tragedy." 

ROY  L.  SMITH,  Minister 


HOW  SIMPSON  SERVES 

Two  Helpful,  Happy  services  every  Sunday. 

A  High  Grade  School  of  Religion  with  a  corps  of  expert  teachers 
every  Sunday. 

Classes  for  all  ages  and  interests. 

A  Men*s  Brotherhood  with  a  real  community  program. 

A  splendid  chorus  choir  of  thirty  voices  with  room  for  a  few  more. 

A  Gymnasium  with  classes  every  night  in  the  week,  open  free. 

A  ‘‘NEIGHBORHOOD  NIGHT”  of  moving  pictures  every  Friday 
at  3  45  and  8 :00  P.  M.  Songs,  community  .singing.  Always  Free. 

A  place  to  find  friends. 

People  Without  church  homes  are  invited  to  come  with  us  and  help 
us  serve  this  community.  We  need  your  help.  We  can  help  you. 


This  illustration  shows  both  sides  of  a  distribution  card, 
five  thousand  of  which  were  distributed  on  Saturday.  Note 
the  “good  will  advertising”  under  the  title,  “How  Simpson 
Serves.” 


THE  NEW  CHURCH  BELL  199 

ness,  and  our  religious  doctrines  for  spiritual 
tyranny.  The  community  must  be  convinced, 
first,  that  the  church  has  a  deep  and  unselfish 
interest  in  every  phase  of  community  life; 
second,  that  the  church  can  offer  help  in  solv¬ 
ing  the  most  intimate  problems  of  life;  and, 
third,  that  there  is  something  interesting  and 
helpful  in  every  service  that  the  church  holds. 

“Good-will  advertising”  produces  few  im¬ 
mediate  results,  and  yet  it  is  essential  to  the 
task  of  building  the  church  into  the  life  of  the 
community.  Simpson  Church  used  twenty- 
four  great  poster  boards  within  the  parish 
boundaries  to  emphasize  just  two  ideas — the 
Sunday-evening  service  and  the  willingness  to 
help.  The  Sunday  evening  following  the  post¬ 
ing  of  the  boards  there  was  no  great  increase 
in  attendance,  and  some  disappointment  was 
expressed,  but  those  boards  did  more  to  create 
a  spirit  of  good  will  toward  the  church  than 
any  other  single  piece  of  advertising  used.  The 
whole  city  talked  about  them,  the  Sunday¬ 
evening  services  became  a  topic  of  common 
conversation,  and  the  church  suddenly  became 
recognized  as  a  great  institution  eager  to  serve 
its  community.  Letters,  telephone  calls,  per¬ 
sonal  visits,  and  expressions  of  appreciation 
streamed  into  the  church  office  for  weeks. 
Scores  of  new  service  opportunities  opened  up, 


200 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


strangers  volunteered  their  help  to  “a  church 
that  advertises  its  desire  to  be  helpful/’  and 
the  Sunday-evening  services  gradually  took 
on  new  significance.  That  one  piece  of  adver¬ 
tising  gave  the  church  the  name  throughout 
the  city  of  “The  church  that  helps  people.” 
No  amount  of  personal  visitation  could  have 
accomplished  so  valuable  a  result  for  so  small 
an  expenditure  of  time  and  money. 

A  small  handbook  of  sixteen  pages,  showing 
the  various  social  and  recreational  activities 
of  one  church,  was  distributed  by  thousands  in 
a  house-to-house  canvass  of  the  community. 
This  booklet  undertook  to  picture  the  services 
rendered  by  an  institution  of  unselfishness.  It 
was  a  direct  appeal  for  the  privilege  of  serv¬ 


ing,  and  the  result  was  an  increment  of  com¬ 
munity  good  will  impossible  to  evaluate. 
Good-will  advertising  can  be  mingled  with 


feature  advertising  throughout  the  year  by  in¬ 
serting  kindly  phrases  into  regular  copy.  A 
series  of  handbills  scattered  by  thousands  dur¬ 
ing  one  month,  carried  a  brief  statement  under 


the  caption,  “How  Simpson  Serves,”  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  announcement  of  services.  “We 
Specialize  in  Helpfulness”  is  carried  on  thou¬ 
sands  of  pieces  of  advertising  material  scat¬ 
tered  from  door  to  door.  One  such  piece  came 
into  the  hands  of  a  family  recently  arrived 


THE  NEW  CHURCH  BELL 


201 


from  the  country.  A  ’phone  call  to  the  church 
office  secured  a  reliable  nurse  girl  together 
with  important  information  concerning  per¬ 
sonal  matters.  The  service  rendered  to  these 
homesick  people  brought  the  entire  family 


A  CURE  FOR  THE  BLUES 

Discouraged,  lonesome,  or  hard-working,  folk  will  find  a  Cure  for  the  Blue* 
in  the  services  at  ST  PAUL  METHODIST  CHURCH, 

Ashland  and  Harrison,  to-morrow,  Sunday,  January  19,  1919 

10:45  A.  M.  An  hour  of  Worship  and  Good  Cheer. 

4:30  P.  M.  Lecture  by  James  F.  Pershing,  brother  of 
General  John  J.  Pershing. 

5:45  P.  M.  Fellowship  Luncheon  (fifteen  cents). 

7:45  P.  M.  Happy  Sin&in&,  Cheerful  Crowds,  Heartening 
Sermon  “Whose  World  Do  We  Live  In?" 

MISS  VERA  POPPE 

Cellist  with  the  London  Symphony  Orchestra  will  play  at  the  evening  service. 

YOU  WILL  BE  SINCERELY  WELCOMED 


Advertising  must  be  adapted  to  the  crowd  we  are  trying  to 
reach.  This  card  was  distributed  in  Chicago’s  great  rooming- 
house  district.  Note  the  appeal  that  is  made  to  lonely  young 
people  away  from  home. 


into  the  church.  Words  like  “happy,”  “home¬ 
like/’  “welcome/’  etc.,  with  heart  and  per¬ 
sonality  in  them,  will  create  good  will  for  the 
church  when  sincerely  used  in  advertising. 

Securing  crowds  for  particular  services  is 
a  rather  more  difficult  matter.  Results  must 
be  produced  for  a  given  occasion  or  the  ex¬ 
penditure  is  wasted.  The  choice  of  medium  will 


202 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


be  determined  by  “reader-cost”  which  means 
“the  cost  of  the  advertisement  per  reader.” 
The  location  and  constituency  of  any  particu¬ 
lar  church  will  determine  the  medium  that  can 
be  most  profitably  used.  Downtown  city 
churches  and  those  in  smaller  cities  and  towns 
will  find  newspaper  advertising  cheapest  and 
best.  There  is  no  way  by  which  so  many  peo¬ 
ple  can  be  reached  at  so  low  a  cost  per  reader. 
Suburban  churches  appealing  to  a  limited  con¬ 
stituency  in  a  restricted  parish  will  probably 
find  some  other  method  less  wasteful,  for  news¬ 
paper  rates  are  figured  on  the  basis  of  city- 
wide  circulation.  Rural  churches  will  un¬ 
doubtedly  find  direct-by-mail  advertising 
cheapest,  for  a  letter  or  post  card  goes  directly 
to  the  home  and  is  certain  of  a  reading.  Hand¬ 
bills  distributed  from  house  to  house,  window 
cards  and  posters,  street-car  advertising  in 
some  cases,  billboards  occasionally,  calendars, 
bulletins,  and  illuminated  signs  have  their 
place  in  a,  general  program. 

Every  church  needs  a  mimeograph,  multi- 
graph,  or  some  duplicating  device.  A  con¬ 
siderable  number  of  churches  issue  a  multi- 
graphed  news  letter  which  goes  through  the 
mail,  arriving  in  the  home  in  time  for  Satur¬ 
day.  This  is  an  unexcelled  opportunity  to  an¬ 
nounce  the  week’s  program  before  the  family 


THE  NEW  CHURCH  BELL 


203 


plans  for  the  week  have  been  made.  A  care¬ 
fully  organized  mailing  list  of  the  membership, 
Sunday  school,  constituency,  communicants, 
and  friends  will  permit  this  news  letter  to 
carry  the  announcements  in  the  most  effective 
manner  to  the  largest  number  of  interested 
people.  A  mimeograph,  addressograph,  and 
mailing  permit  will  greatly  reduce  the  labor 
involved  in  such  publication.  Many  churches 
prefer  this  type  of  “announcer”  to  the  regular 
Sunday  bulletin. 

A  mailing  list  is  absolutely  essential  to  a 
church  that  deals  with  large  numbers  of  peo¬ 
ple  in  a  systematic  way.  Simpson  Church  has 
a  classified  mailing  list,  including  (1)  the 
church  membership  listed  according  to  fami¬ 
lies,  (2)  children  of  the  Sunday  school,  accord¬ 
ing  to  families,  who  are  not  members  of  the 
church,  (3)  unchurched  parents  of  Sunday- 
school  children,  (4)  nonmember  attendants, 
(5)  unchurched  parents  of  children  enrolled 
in  social  and  recreational  activities.  A  care¬ 
ful  system  of  registration  in  the  Sunday 
school  and  social  activities  enables  the  church 
secretary  to  make  up  card  tiles  for  classes  2, 
3,  and  5.  The  simple  “I  Was  There”  card  is 
used  about  once  per  month  in  the  following 
manner :  Every  person  in  attendance  upon  the 
service  is  given  a  blank  card.  At  a  given  time 


204 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


every  person  is  asked  to  sign  the  card  because 
strangers  do  not  hesitate  to  sign  np  if  every¬ 
one  else  is  doing  so.  The  cards  of  those  known 
to  be  already  associated  with  the  church  are 
discarded  and  the  rest  are  given  to  church 
visitors  who  call  upon  them  in  their  homes. 
If  good  reason  is  found  for  doing  so,  the  cards 
are  then  placed  in  the  permanent  mailing  list 
with  all  available  information  noted  on  the 
back. 

House  to  house  distribution  of  handbills 
and  cards  is  an  effective  means  of  reaching  a 
limited  community  though  generally  con¬ 
sidered  a  cheap  form  of  advertising.  Efficient 
distribution  is  the  biggest  problem  unless  a 
troop  of  Boy  Scouts  can  be  persuaded  to 
assume  the  responsibility. 

One  church  has  used  a  handsome  picture  of 
the  church  building,  printed  on  a,  post  card. 
On  the  reverse  side  appears  the  announcement 
of  a  sermon  series,  musical  features  or  other 
specials  with  a  blank  line  at  the  bottom  for 
a  personal  signature.  These  cards  are  distri¬ 
buted  to  the  audience  and  each  person  is  asked 
to  address  one  to  some  friend  not  present, 
signing  the  same.  These  cards  are  dropped 
into  the  evening  collection,  and  turned  over 
to  the  church  secretary.  Some  names  are 
copied  into  the  permanent  mailing  lists  while 


THE  NEW  CHURCH  BELL 


205 


others  are  useful  in  correcting  addresses.  The 
cards  are  stamped  and  mailed  out  during  the 
week  and  serve  as  a  personal  invitation  from 
the  person  who  signed  the  card.  It  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  conceive  a  more  effective  piece  of 
advertising. 

In  preparing  copy  for  any  type  of  adver¬ 
tising  six  factors  must  have  consideration : 
(1)  Interest,  (2)  Brevity,  (3)  Illustration, 
(4)  Quantity,  (5)  Quality,  (6)  Reason  why. 

No  advertisement  has  any  value  which  is 
not  read.  Something  must  be  put  in  that  will 
arrest  attention.  This  may  be  done  by  bold 
type  display,  color,  illustration,  or  arresting 
words.  The  most  compelling  argument  of  the 
whole  advertisement  should  be  incorporated 
in  one  word,  phrase,  or  sentence  for  the  catch 
line.  This  can  be  supported  by  the  illustra¬ 
tion  but  if  the  reader  does  not  read  the  first 
line,  he  will  read  no  other.  In  arranging  the 
type  display  all  essential  facts  should  be 
stated  in  such  a  way  that  a  glance  at  the  bold 
face  lines  will  tell  the  story  even  if  the  reader 
is  not  interested  enough  to  read  the  entire 
advertisement.  The  essential  facts  include, 
(1)  place,  (2)  date,  (3)  hour,  (4)  star  attrac¬ 
tion. 

The  common  fault  of  the  inexperienced 
advertiser  is  “crowded  copy.”  The  best  adver- 


206 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


tisement  is  the  one  which  expresses  the  idea  in 
the  fewest  words.  In  the  interest  of  brevity 
it  is  often  advisable  to  list  the  features  in  some 
such  form  as  the  following: 

SONGS  FOR  THE  LONELY 

An  evening  planned  for  the  encouragement  of  lonely, 
hardworking  people. 

Songs,  stories  and  sermonettes  that  will 

CURE  YOU  OF  THE  BLUES 

(1)  Male  Quartet  singing  “The  Wayside  Cross.” 

(2)  Dr.  William  Sainsbury — pianist— makes  you  forget 

trouble. 

(3)  The  Wide-Awake  Girts  Quartet  in  winsome  melodies. 

(4)  Songs  Like  Mother  Used  to  Sing — illustrated  by  a 

chalk  artist. 

(5)  William  Isenberger,  violinist — always  a  favorite. 

(6)  The  wonderful  organ  prelude — restful  and  heartening. 

SIMPSON  CHURCH 
28th  St.  and  1st  Ave.,  S. 

Sunday  Night  8:00  o’clock 

“We  Specialize  in  Helpfulness.” 

No  other  one  thing  will  do  more  to  insure 
a  reading  of  the  advertisement  than  an  illus¬ 
tration.  Pictures  of  church  activities,  espe¬ 
cially  of  children,  have  great  value.  Beauti¬ 
ful  cuts  can  often  be  borrowed  from  com¬ 
mercial  advertisers  and  adapted  for  church 
use.  The  writer  once  found  an  advertisement 
of  “Postum”  showing  a  sunrise  and  a  break- 
fast  table.  By  substituting  a  phrase  about 


THE  NEW  CHURCH  BELL 


207 


Sunday  morning  services  instead  of  the 
Postum  copy  the  cuts  were  as  appropriate  to 
the  church  as  to  the  Postum  Company.  A 
simple  request  brought  an  immediate  reply, 
the  plates  were  shipped,  the  kindness  of  the 
company  was  recognized  by  a  line  in  the  adver¬ 
tisement,  and  the  church  had  the  service  of  an 
advertising  artist  which  would  have  cost  hun¬ 
dreds  of  dollars. 

It  is  better  to  put  out  too  much  advertising 
rather  than  too  little.  In  buying  newspaper 
space,  buy  enough  to  attract  attention.  Then 
put  something  into  it  that  will  make  it  distinc¬ 
tive. 

In  putting  out  handbills  and  window  cards 
a  sufficient  quantity  should  be  used  to  give 
the  impression  of  profusion.  The  theaters  are 
masters  of  the  art  of  advertising  and  a  cursory 
study  of  their  methods  reveals  the  fact  that 
they  sow  a  city  down  with  advertising.  The 
cost  of  a  few  extra  hundreds  or  thousands  of 
pieces  is  so  slight  after  the  job  is  once  set  up 
that  it  is  wasteful  to  put  out  less  than  enough 
to  make  an  impression  on  the  community. 

The  best  printing  is  none  too  good.  Cheap, 
tawdry,  inartistic  printing  does  more  harm 
than  good.  The  paper  stock  should  be  well 
chosen  with  the  assistance  of  the  printer  or  an 
expert  paper  man.  The  appearance  of  every 


208 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


piece  of  printed  matter  gives  some  impression 
of  the  personality  of  the  advertiser.  No 
church  can  afford  to  give  a  false  impression 
through  the  use  of  second-class  printing. 
Better  to  advertise  less  frequently,  if  neces¬ 
sary,  that  the  quality  may  be  of  the  very  best. 

Every  advertisement  should  carry  some 
argument,  or  “reason  why,”  to  convince  the 
reader.  In  the  advertisement  above  the  six 
features  contain  the  reason  why.  A  simple 
announcement  that  services  are  to  be  held  is 
not  enough — there  must  be  some  reason  why 
people  should  attend  these  services — some 
promise  of  profit,  some  assurance  of  benefit. 
This  “reason  why”  cannot  be  mere  bombast 
but  should  be  the  clearest  statement  of  fact. 

There  is  no  advertising  equal  to  the  per¬ 
sonal  word  passed  from  friend  to  friend.  A 
“telephone  brigade”  was  organized  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  stimulating  church  attendance.  The 
entire  parish  was  districted  with  leaders  over 
each  district.  Two  captains  passed  a  simple 
announcement  down  to  the  district  leaders 
who  in  turn  passed  it  to  group  leaders.  These 
spread  the  announcement  farther  and  farther 
until  every  person  on  the  mailing  list  had  been 
reached.  The  last  person  was  asked,  in  each 
case,  “Please  ’phone  two  friends.”  More  than 
two  thousand  telephone  calls  have  been  put 


THE  NEW  CHURCH  BELL 


209 


through  in  the  interest  of  a  single  service  by 
means  of  this  organization. 

Appeals  are  made  through  the  pulpit  an¬ 
nouncements,  the  weekly  news  letters,  and 
every  other  medium  for  the  people  to  “Talk 
the  Church.”  Stories  of  the  achievements  of 
the  church  appear  each  week  in  the  news 
letter,  reports  are  made  to  the  Sunday  audi¬ 
ences  and  in  every  way  conceivable  the  peo¬ 
ple  are  made  to  feel  such  a  pride  in  their  con¬ 
nection  with  the  church  that  they  will  “talk 
it  up”  wherever  they  go.  This  personal  com¬ 
mendation  from  the  people  who  “patronize  the 
church”  is  the  best  advertising  in  the  world. 
It  costs  nothing  but  enthusiasm.  The  preacher 
must  kindle  that  enthusiasm. 


APPENDIX 


No  device  is  more  useful  in  a  Sunday-eve- 
ing  service  than  a  spotlight.  Any  church 
equipped  with  a  stereopticon  can  have  a  spot¬ 
light  by  simply  removing  the  slide  carrier.  An 
operator  who  is  familiar  with  the  lantern  will 
be  able  to  enlarge  or  reduce  the  area  of  light 
as  the  action  requires.  If  a  colored  light  is 
desired,  it  is  necessary  to  use  a  material  called 
“light  medium,”  a  substance  similar  to  cellu¬ 
loid,  which  is  stained  in  a  variety  of  shades. 
The  “medium”  is  held  in  front  of  the  light 
which  is  tinted  as  it  passes  through.  Much 
better  results  are  obtained  when  the  spotlight 
is  operated  from  a  considerable  elevation. 

Colored  lights  are  frequently  wanted  for 
decorative  purposes.  These  can  be  prepared 
in  a  number  of  ways  but  the  most  satisfactory 
is  the  method  used  by  the  theater.  A  “dip” 
called  “Red  Devil”  can  be  obtained  through 
any  theater  supply  house  in  more  than  twenty 
tints.  An  ordinary  lamp  globe,  dipped  in 
this  stain,  will  dry  quickly,  last  well  and  be 
perfectly  tinted.  A  good  varnish,  stained  with 
oil  color,  will  work  rather  well,  but  it  is  diffi- 

211 


212 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


cult  to  apply  the  color  evenly.  Lights  may  be 
wrapped  in  thin  tinted  paper,  but  there  is  al¬ 
ways  the  danger  of  fire  and  the  paper  shuts 
off  most  of  the  light. 

A  “dimmer”  is  very  valuable  for  decreasing 
or  increasing  lights  gradually.  The  profes¬ 
sional  mechanism  is  rather  expensive,  but  a 
useful  and  inexpensive  one  can  be  made  by  any 
high-school  boy.  The  first  requirement  is  an 
ordinary  galvanized  iron  pail  holding  about 
two  gallons.  An  insulated  copper  wire  should 
be  attached  near  the  top  of  the  pail  by  a  stove 
bolt  serving  as  a  “binding  post.”  Across  the 
top  of  the  pail  is  laid  a  thin  board  in  which 
has  been  cut  a  narrow  slit  somewhat  shorter 
than  the  diameter  of  the  bucket.  A  “V-¬ 
shaped  piece  of  zinc,  long  enough  to  reach  al¬ 
most  to  the  bottom  of  the  pail,  and  wide 
enough  across  the  top  to  wedge  in  the  slit  of 
the  board,  has  attached  to  it  a  second  piece  of 
insulated  copper  wire  by  means  of  which  it  is 
to  be  connected  with  the  current.  The  board 
should  entirely  insulate  the  zinc  from  the  pail. 
The  light  circuit  to  be  illuminated  is  con¬ 
nected,  through  an  ordinary  lamp  cord,  to  a 
lamp  socket.  One  strand  of  the  cord  is 
severed  at  a  convenient  point  and  the  free  ends 
of  the  two  copper  wires  of  the  “dimmer-  con¬ 
nected  with  the  ends  of  the  cut  cord  and 


APPENDIX 


213 


“taped”  to  avoid  a  short  circuit.  The  current 
is  now  turned  on  and  the  bucket  filled  with 
water  almost  to  the  top.  If  the  zinc  is  com¬ 
pletely  insulated  from  the  pail,  the  lights  will 
not  burn.  A  small  amount  of  table  salt  is  now 
stirred  into  the  water  and  the  lights  are  seen 
to  glow  a  dull  red.  As  more  salt  is  added  the 
lights  become  more  brilliant  until  they  have 
reached  normal.  The  “dimmer”  is  now  com¬ 
plete.  Removing  the  zinc  slowly  from  the 
water  will  cause  the  lights  gradually  to  go 
out  and  inserting  it  again  into  the  water  will 
cause  them  to  glow.  Not  more  than  two  table 
spoons  of  salt  are  needed.  Too  much  salt 
makes  it  difficult  to  control  the  illumination. 
If  a  section  of  the  house  lights  is  to  be  dimmed 
the  free  ends  of  the  copper  wire  are  connected 
with  the  posts  of  the  open  “knife  switch”  and 
the  “dimmer”  is  operated  as  before  described. 
Care  should  be  exercised  in  connecting  any 
large  circuit  of  lights  that  the  copper  wires 
used  with  the  dimmer  are  as  heavy  as  those 
which  feed  the  circuit  from  the  switchboard. 

Illuminated  crosses  can  be  made  in  a 
variety  of  ways.  Any  manufacturer  of  leaded 
glass  windows  can  make  up  a  beautiful  cross 
of  translucent  glass  with  a  wooden  back  upon 
which  the  lights  are  mounted.  This  is  the  best 
type  of  cross  obtainable  but  is  somewhat  ex- 


214 


CAPTURING  CROWDS 


pensive,  though  its  superior  appearance  justi¬ 
fies  the  cost,  A  simpler  plan  calls  for  a 
wooden  back  with  lamps  fastened  on  the  face. 
The  wiring  and  wooden  back  can  be  covered 
with  cardboard  or  painted  white.  The  chief 
difficulty  with  such  a  cross  is  the  eye  strain 
that  is  caused  by  the  exposed  globes,  though 
it  is  the  best  type  for  outside  use.  A  wooden 
box,  cross  shaped,  faced  with  “frosted  glass” 
(ground  or  painted)  makes  an  effective  cross. 
The  interior  of  such  a  box  should  be  painted 
white  to  reflect  the  light.  The  exterior  can  be 
painted  white  and  presents  a  fine  appearance 
even  when  not  illuminated.  Other  designs  and 
emblems  can  use  this  same  type  of  construc¬ 
tion.  The  simplest  plan  of  all  is  to  paint  a 
design  on  glass  or  celluloid,  filling  in  the  back¬ 
ground  with  some  opaque  color  and  “frosting” 
the  design  in  white  or  any  other  tint  desired. 
A  transparent  color  can  be  used,  but  it  should 
be  applied  by  an  experienced  painter  or  it  will 
appear  untidy  and  crude. 

An  “electric  fire”  consists  of  an  ordinary 
lamp  globe  concealed  under  red  paper.  A  few 
sticks  of  light  wood  or  light  bits  of  ash  over 
the  paper  make  a  more  realistic  appearance. 
“Footlights”  can  be  constructed  by  mounting 
lamp  sockets  on  a  board  of  the  desired  length, 
using  cheap  tin  sauce  pans  or  bended  tin  for 


APPENDIX 


215 


reflectors.  If  footlights  are  to  be  used  fre¬ 
quently  it  is  advisable  to  have  a  long  box, 
lined  with  tin,  in  which  the  lamps  are 
mounted.  These  can  then  be  connected  by  an 
electrician,  equipped  with  plug  connections 
and  ready  for  lighting  through  an  ordinary 
lamp  socket.  Desk  lamps  with  wide  reflectors 
can  be  used  to  advantage  if  a  limited  number 
of  footlights  are  desired.  A  complete  “sun¬ 
rise”  can  be  produced  by  the  use  of  red,  blue, 
and  white  lights.  Each  series  of  lights  should 
be  connected  with  a  separate  zinc  plate  in  the 
dimmer.  The  circuit  of  blues  come  on 
gradually,  first,  then  followed  by  the  red. 
When  the  reds  are  burning  at  maximum  the 
“blue”  plate  should  be  slowly  removed.  This 
leaves  a  full  red  glow.  With  the  removal  of 
the  “blue”  plate  the  “white”  plate  is  inserted, 
and  when  the  “white”  circuit  is  at  maximum 
the  “red”  plate  is  removed.  Such  an  effect  is 
very  beautiful  on  a  number  of  occasions,  and 
this  equipment  serves  admirably  for  Easter, 
Christmas,  and  New  Year’s  pageants. 


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